US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew from Saudi Arabia to Baghdad to meet with Iraqi officials.

Rice was accompanying U.S. President George Bush on a Middle East tour to bolster the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and made the last-minute decision, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe announced.

"President Bush and Secretary Rice decided this would be a good opportunity for the secretary to go to Baghdad to meet with Iraqi officials to build on political progress made and encourage political reconciliation and legislative action," Johndroe said.

According to an Iraqi official, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the US troop reduction with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during her surprise visit to Baghdad.

"Rice discussed with al-Maliki a possible reduction of the multinational troops in Iraq this year," Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabagh, told reporters after the talks.

Progress of the political process and reconciliation among Iraq's sectarian and ethnic groups were also discussed, according to a cabinet statement.

“There seems to be a spirit of reconciliation to move forward," Rice said at a press conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

"While it has not always moved as fast as some of us sitting in Washington would like, it has certainly moved," she said about the speed of reconciliation efforts among the country's Sunni, Shiite and Kurd communities.

Rice expressed Washington's satisfaction with the passage of legislation to reinstate former supporters of the ousted Baath party to their government jobs.

The legislation, which was ratified by parliament last week, returns former members of the ousted party to public office but excludes members charged with crimes.

Political progress and a possible reduction in the numbers of multinational troops in Iraq were discussed during her talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, according to a cabinet statement.

Rice is expected to meet President Jalal Talabani before returning to Riyadh Tuesday evening.