Prime Minister Tony Blair made a lightning visit to Iraq on Thursday to assess British troop levels after last week's election. He will hold talks with British and U.S. military chiefs in the British-controlled city of Basra to discuss the way forward. Tight security surrounded Blair's fourth visit to Iraq since the March 2003 invasion, with a news blackout in place until he touched down from Kuwait on a Hercules transporter, for fear of attacks by insurgents. Blair wore a dark suit without tie. "We are getting an assessment on the general election situation -- as much as we know -- and a military assessment of the security situation," Blair's spokesman told reporters before reaching Iraq's second city. "First of all, the election results come in, secondly there is a new government agreed. That government then has to take a view on the process of Iraqi-isation. Then we're in a better position to talk about what happens to our troops," he was quoted as saying by Reuters. "Iraqi-isation" is London's term for training Iraqi forces to take control of their own security.
