CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Gov. Dave Freudenthal and three other governors made a surprise visit to Iraq to visit U.S. troops and get a firsthand look at conditions there.

The trip began Sunday, when Freudenthal, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were briefed at the Pentagon and met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Freudenthal's first stop Tuesday was Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, where he had dinner with soldiers from Wyoming. He then planned to meet with Wyoming troops in various parts of Iraq, according to the governor's office.

"The main purpose is to visit troops as their commander in chief to relay the support of the folks back home," Freudenthal spokeswoman Lara Azar said. "It's also an opportunity to see first hand the places they've served and continue to serve."

Azar said that aside from visiting the troops, the governor had no particular fact-finding agenda. "He'll look forward to what they have to tell them," she said.

She said she couldn't disclose ahead of time when Freudenthal planned to return to Wyoming and which parts of Iraq he planned to visit.

The governors were invited on the trip by Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, according to Huckabee spokeswoman Alice Stewart.

"I'm tremendously glad for the opportunity to show troops from Wyoming and from all over the country that they are very much in our hearts and minds," Freudenthal said in a news release.

"This is not only a chance to see some of them face-to-face on behalf of their families, friends and state, but it's also a chance to see where they have been serving over the past few years."

Wyoming has troops in Iraq in the 1041st Engineer Company; 4th Infantry Division Rear Operations Center; 115th Field Artillery Brigade; 1022nd Medical Company; 2-300th Field Artillery and Wyoming Air National Guard.

Wyoming has 272 of its Army and Air National Guard members deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar and Antarctica, according to Wyoming National Guard spokeswoman Deidre Forster. She said the state had only a handful of troops in Iraq, but another 154 members of the 2-300th are in Fort Lewis, Wash., in preparation for deployment to Iraq.

The governors' visit also included briefings by Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and meetings with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalizad.

Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister, had been scheduled to appear at the annual March for Life anti-abortion rally Sunday but did not appear because of the Iraq trip.

"This has been in the works for quite some time," Stewart said.