The outgoing U.S. military commander in Iraq, General George Casey received Gates in the oil-rich Iraqi city Friday, as he arrived there .
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Gates is also meeting with Major General Jonathan Shaw, the commander of British forces headquartered in Basra, and will confer later with commanders from Poland, Australia, Denmark and Romania.
Gates is on his second trip to Iraq since becoming U.S. defense secretary last month and his first since President Bush announced his new strategy for Iraq.
Hours before Gates arrived in Basra, six British soldiers were wounded in a series of rocket attacks on their base.
Gates traveled to Iraq after a tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain aimed at rallying support for the new U.S. Iraq plan that includes deploying more than 20,000 additional American troops.
Gates also visited Afghanistan and held talks with U.S. and NATO commanders as well as Afghan officials.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.