House speaker Pelosi pays surprise visit to Baghdad

The California Democrat was meeting with senior U.S. and Iraqi leaders, according to the U.S. Embassy, which declined to provide further details about the trip.

Pelosi led House Democrats in opposing President Bush's order to deploy 28,500 additional troops to Iraq last year in a bid to stem insurgent and sectarian violence.

Most of the extra forces will return home by the summer, but Pelosi has called for deeper cuts in troop levels before the end of the year. She has also led demands for the Iraqi government to contribute more financially to reconstruction.

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com