Rice in Iraq as 45 die in violence

* 2 Iraqi TV reporters executed
* Kidnapped governor freed
* US forces end Operation Matador
* Baghdad bomb suspects paraded on TV

BAGHDAD: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Iraq on Sunday to discuss how to fight the escalating insurgency, and authorities said they found the bodies of 34 men killed by guerrillas.

Meanwhile, two Iraqi journalists working for the Kuwait-based Al-Rai television network and their driver were executed south of Baghdad on Sunday, an Iraqi army officer said. Rice arrived under heavy security to meet Iraqi leaders grappling with an explosion of attacks that have killed more than 400 people since a new government was named on April 28.

She said she wanted to discuss ways to move the political process forward to help quell the insurgency. “The Iraqis are now going to have to intensify their efforts to demonstrate that in fact the political process is the answer for the Iraqi people,” she told reporters on her plane before arriving in Arbil.

Four cops and two civilians were killed when two suicide bombers attacked the convoy of Raad Rashid, governor of Diyala province, in Baquba. The governor escaped unharmed. Police found the handcuffed bodies of 13 people shot dead and left in a Baghdad garbage dump. The bodies of 10 Iraqi soldiers killed by insurgents were discovered in Ramadi and of 11 Iraqis were found in Iskandariya.

In Baghdad, gunmen killed cleric Qasim Al Gharrawi while a senior Industry Ministry official and his driver were killed in western Baghdad.

Insurgents have freed Raja Nawaf, the governor of Iraq’s rebellious Anbar province, who was kidnapped last week. US forces ended a major weeklong sweep dubbed operation “Matador” targeting militants.

Five suspects detained after a deadly Baghdad bombing last week were paraded on Iraqi state television overnight. agencies

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