US, British troops 'essential': Iraq's Talabani

United Nations, Sept 23: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said yesterday international forces remain ''essential'' while Iraq builds an army capable of defending the country.

He told the United Nations General Assembly his people's patience is wearing thin because of the violence and appealed for nearby states to close borders and end support for ''terrorist forces'' fueling instability in his country.

Thirty-eight bodies were found dumped in the streets of Baghdad yesterday, a toll that has become almost routine in the capital over the past weeks as death squads roam its streets, dragging victims out of homes and shops, torturing and killing them.

A UN report released this week said Iraq was now deadlier than ever, with 6,599 Iraqis dying violently in the last two months, 700 more than in the previous two.

The US and British-led forces ''are essential for us in the present circumstances while accomplishing the mission of building our armed forces that are capable of ending terrorism and maintaining stability and security,'' Talabani said.

''Only then will it be possible to talk about a timetable for the withdrawal of the multinational forces from Iraq.'' Any withdrawal must be ''gradual,'' he added.

It is getting harder to sustain troop levels. Italy, the last major West European ally of the United States and Britain in Iraq, ended its mission yesterday, handing the province under its control over to Iraqi troops.

There is political pressure in the United States to begin withdrawing American forces, which now stand at 147,00 troops, the highest since January.

But a senior general said on Tuesday the Pentagon is unlikely to begin cutting its troops until at least mid-2007 as they try to stop sectarian violence from degenerating into civil war.

Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, insisted Iraq's three-year effort at reconciliation after a US-led invasion ousted President Saddam Hussein was ''promising.'' But ''our people's patience is nearing its end, particularly when it sees the blood of its innocent sons and daughters being spilled and defiled, its infrastructure destroyed and its mosques ... ruined and the rebuilding of its armed forces and security services is impeded to prevent completing our sovereignty,'' he said.

He blamed extremist forces ''comprised of regional and Arab elements that export their crises to fight their battles on Iraq's territory.'' These groups include remnants of the former regime, in league with organized crime, backed by cross-border infiltrators representing al Qaeda and ''runaway Saddamists.'' Talabani urged Arab and regional parties and unspecified ''neighboring countries'' to halt support for these groups and close their borders with Iraq. The United States accuses Iran and Syria of allowing fighter opposed to the Baghdad government cross their borders with Iraq.

Talabani also urged international donors to make good on financial commitments to rebuild Iraq and said UN special programs should resume operations in Iraq to assist in the reconstruction process.

REUTERS