CAMP RAMADI: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said during a surprise visit to Iraq on Wednesday that the American military`s war in the country is over.

Asked by reporters at Camp Ramadi, an American base about 100 kilometres (80 miles) west of Baghdad, whether the United States was still at war in Iraq, Gates replied: "I`d say we`re not. Combat operations have ceased."

"We are still going to work with Iraqis on counter-terrorism, we are still doing a lot of training and advising. So I would say we`ve moved into the final phase of our engagement in Iraq," Gates said at the base, where he met US soldiers staying on to provide assistance to the Iraqi army.

President Barack Obama late Tuesday officially announced the end of the US combat mission in Iraq. US forces are now down to less than 50,000 with only an advisory and training mission left.

Gates will later on Wednesday join US Vice President Joe Biden in presiding over a ceremony marking the change of US military command in Iraq.

BDST: 15:46 HRS, September 1, 2010