US Defence Secretary meeting Iraqi PM Al-Maliki

(15 Sep 2008) 1. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and General Patraeus entering meeting room 2. Various of meeting between Gates and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki 3. Wide shot meeting STORYLINE: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday he foresees a shrinking US combat role in Iraq in the coming months. US troops will increasingly play a back-up role, Gates said, as Iraqi security forces take on more of the responsibility for fighting an insurgency that has lost much of its power and influence over the past year. Gates was speaking before meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad on Monday. Before that he met members of the Iraqi military and local government leaders from the Rashid district of south Baghdad and heard assurances that they were cooperating to resettle citizens - both Shiites and Sunnis - who were displaced by the sectarian violence. They also pledged to work together on other thorny issues. Gates said he was focusing heavily on expanding the use and effectiveness of intelligence and surveillance programmes that have played an important part in eroding the insurgency in Iraq. Sandstorms prevented Gates' aircraft from stopping as planned at Camp Speicher, near the northern city of Tikrit. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...