Hatch says trip to Iraq productive for leaders

WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch met with about a dozen Utahns who are serving in Iraq as he traveled to central Baghdad over the weekend, just as a new government was being sworn in.

He said the dozen or so officers he met were in good spirits and proud of what they are doing. He planned to call their parents and spouses to update them.

Hatch and Sen. Gordon Smith , R-Ore., made the State Department sponsored trip at the request of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. Hatch is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee that approved the trip and he was on his way to Egypt for the World Economic Forum.

Although he could not discuss many details of his visit for security reasons, Hatch said he met with U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the Iraqi president, deputy prime minister and other high ranking officials.

He said it was "vital" for the newly sworn-in leaders to know "that the American people support their government." It was also just as important that the leaders took time out of what is the equivalent of Inauguration Day in the United State to meet with the senators, Hatch said.

"It was a very good day," Hatch said. "It was a short but productive trip."