Vice President Biden visits Baghdad

By Andrew Quinn

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden made a previously unannounced visit to Baghdad on Thursday to meet Iraqi leaders and U.S. military commanders just days after American troops withdrew from Iraqi towns and city centers.

Biden flew in to Baghdad airport amid a sandstorm, which forced him to reschedule a planned evening visit to the U.S. embassy.

His visit comes at a critical time in U.S.-Iraqi relations. Washington is putting more pressure on Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders to resolve disputes over oil revenues and regional boundaries that have stalled political reconciliation.

Biden said he was optimistic about Iraq's future but that much remained to be done to achieve the political consensus needed to make progress after more than six years of chaos and bloodshed following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

"I am optimistic because I do think that the Iraqis have become interested in their nationhood. They've become interested in the idea that they run their own lives," he told reporters on his plane.

Biden's three-day visit comes after President Barack Obama appointed him to help coordinate Iraq policy as U.S. officials lay the groundwork for a full withdrawal of U.S. forces by 2012.

In a key step toward that, U.S. troops handed over control of urban areas to Iraqi security forces this week under a bilateral Iraqi-U.S. security pact.

The sectarian warfare and insurgency since 2003 have receded dramatically over the past year, but attacks continue.