President Bush was supposed to leave Washington yesterday for an international summit in Australia, with a fuel stop in Honolulu. Instead, the day found him in Iraq mingling with U.S. troops in the desert about 120 miles north of Baghdad.

Bush's unannounced trip to the Middle East was arranged in secret, with the president sneaking out a side entrance of the White House about 18 hours ahead of his scheduled departure for Sydney, Australia, and rolling in a two-car motorcade to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Reporters traveling on Air Force One had been sworn to secrecy a day earlier and were held behind curtains in the rear of the plane until takeoff.

The rest of the press corps, headed for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering on a separate flight, learned of the Iraq detour as they arrived in Honolulu for a scheduled refueling stop.

The president met with Iraqi leaders and top U.S. officials during his six-hour stop at Al Asad air base, then traveled on to Australia.

On the way to Iraq, White House officials denied that the visit was a stunt designed to help Bush make his case that his military strategy is making progress.

"The president ... felt it was important for him to come first- hand," said national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, adding that Bush was particularly looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, as well as Iraqi tribal leaders.