U.S. defence chief makes unannounced visit to Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates made an unannounced visit on Thursday to Iraq, where U.S. military leaders are planning to sharply reduce troop numbers by next summer despite delays in Iraq's forthcoming national polls.

Gates says that Iraq's decision to hold parliamentary elections in March, a delay of several weeks from the original date, will not affect U.S. plans to end combat operations next August and reduce the number of U.S. troops to 50,000 from around 115,000 now.

(Reporting by Adam Entous; writing by Missy Ryan)