US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Britain's Jack Straw flew into Baghdad yesterday in a dramatic bid to break a deadlock over forming a unity government that can halt a slide to civil war.

A day after senior figures in the ruling Shi'ite Alliance bloc broke ranks and turned publicly on Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Rice and Foreign Secretary Straw will certainly add to the pressure on the controversial premier to step aside.

The chill was palpable when Rice and the embattled Jaafari exchanged small talk on a rainstorm raging outside as reporters looked on. The smiles were frosty, the body language awkward.

However, no breakthrough is likely to be announced during the two-day trip, officials said both Iraqi leaders and their visitors are anxious not to give the impression that Washington and London are imposing a new leader over the elected Jaafari.

Rice was visibly more friendly in her meeting with Vice-President Adel Abdul Mahdi, a candidate for prime minister if Jaafari steps aside.

The flight from Liverpool, where the pair had spent two days of "backyard diplomacy" in Straw's home region, was shrouded in a secrecy far greater than typical unannounced visits to Iraq.

Asked if the plan was to force Jaafari to step down and have his Alliance colleagues nominate someone acceptable to the minority groups in parliament, Straw said: "We will recognize and respect whoever emerges as the leader through this system." Nearly four months after an election, he added: "Our concern, however, is that they have to make swift progress."

Source: China Daily