Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the US "will stand with the people of Iraq" during a difficult transition period in the conflict-torn country.

美国国务卿希拉里克林顿声明美国“将会和伊拉克人民站在一起”度过艰难的充满矛盾的时期。

She was speaking during her first visit to Iraq as America's top diplomat¹.

President Barack Obama has committed the US to withdrawing troops from Iraqi cities by the end of June. All combat brigades（旅，队，组） are to leave by next summer.

Mrs Clinton's visit comes in the wake of two days of suicide bomb attacks in Iraq which killed at least 155 people.

Violence fell sharply in Iraq in the last year.

But because of the recent attacks, there will be a lot of head-scratching（刮痕） about whether the timetables should be stuck to or whether they should be flexible, the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says.

The attacks do not yet seem to be a sustained（持久的） trend, but they seem to be starting to take on a rhythm which is truly alarming for the Iraqi government and for the Americans, our correspondent says.

'Clear signal'

"We want to see a stable, sovereign, self-reliant Iraq," Mrs Clinton said during a "town-hall" meeting with Iraqis from different civil society and interest groups.

"The US will stand with the people of Iraq and will look for ways to create a close and important relationship for the future."

Following meetings with Iraqi officials including Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, Mrs Clinton held a press conference with with her Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari.

The secretary of state condemned² the upsurge（起浪，涌起） in bomb attacks against Iraqis over recent days.

She also described as "disappointing" a statement from Iran's Supreme³ Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accusing US troops of involvement in the bombings that had killed Shia pilgrims from Iran.

"It is disappointing for anyone to make such a claim since it is clearly traced to the al-Qaeda（基地组织） remnants and other violent groups who wish to disrupt the progress of Iran, of Iraq," she said.

Before leaving for Baghdad（巴格达） she said would also discuss the recent attacks with US commander in Iraq, Gen Raymond Odierno.

"I want his evaluation⁴（估价，评估） of what these kinds of rejectionist efforts mean and what can be done to prevent them by both the Iraqi government and the US forces," she said.

Mrs Clinton said the recent upsurge in violence was a tragic⁵ signal that Iraq was in fact on the right path.

She said the Iraqi government had made impressive progress but there were people who did not want it to succeed.

On Friday, two female suicide bombers⁶ attacked Baghdad's main Shia shrine⁷, killing⁸ at least 60 people and injuring 125 others, Iraqi officials said.

On Thursday, 84 people were killed in two separate suicide attacks in Baghdad and Baquba.