Bush envoy Baker meets Sunni leader in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Sep 1 (Reuters) Former US Secretary of State James Baker, who heads an independent panel charged with taking a fresh look at U.S. policy in Iraq, met one of the most senior Sunni leaders in the Iraqi coalition government today.

Mr Baker held talks with Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zobaie in his offices in the Green Zone government compound in Baghdad.

Zobaie has been meeting Sunni tribal leaders as part of the government's efforts to defuse a bloody Sunni insurgency.

The US embassy declined further comment on the unannounced visit to Iraq. It was not clear how long Baker had been in the country and who he planned to meet. He is a close friend of the Bush family and served under the current president's father.

His bi-partisan Iraq Study Group has kept a low profile since being set up by Congress in March to study the US-led war in Iraq, which has become increasingly unpopular among Americans ahead of Congressional elections in November.

The war has also contributed to President George W. Bush's falling popularity ratings as the unrelenting Sunni insurgency continues to exact a bloody toll on US troops. At least 64 soldiers were killed in August, about the average since 2003.

In its September issue, Washington Monthly magazine, which is critical of Bush, said the Iraq Study Group was ''trying to devise a fresh set of policies to help the president chart a new course in -- or, perhaps, to get the hell out of -- Iraq''.

Panel members have spoken little of their work on it. They include retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, former CIA director Robert Gates, former Attorney General Edwin Meese and former Defense Secretary William Perry.

Baker sat silently at a news conference held after his meeting with Zobaie, who told journalists.

''James Baker was the engineer of US foreign policy for many years. He has been sent by George Bush personally to find out the reality of what is happening in Iraq.'' The White House said in March the Iraq Study Group would provide an independent look at the ''way forward'' in Iraq.

A surge in sectarian violence has derailed US plans to begin withdrawing some of its troops this year. Washington has boosted troop levels from 127,000 to 140,000 in recent weeks to help the Iraqi government regain control of its capital.

REUTERS BDP KN1956