US pullout from Iraq would cause chaos -Kuwait

PARIS, Nov 30 (Reuters) A US withdrawal from Iraq would push the country into a civil war that would damage the whole world, the emir of neighbouring Kuwait said in comments published today.

''In the current circumstances, an American withdrawal (from Iraq) would in no way help bring back stability,'' Kuwait's Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said in an interview with daily Le Figaro during an official visit to France.

''On the contrary, the situation would worsen and we would see a civil war of great intensity for which the whole world would pay the price.'' US President George W Bush is under pressure to change policy on Iraq, where sectarian violence shows no sign of abating, and secure an exit strategy for the 140,000 US troops deployed there.

Bush said today US troops would stay in Iraq as long as the Baghdad government wanted them there.

Asked if the situation in Iraq had almost become a civil war, Sheikh Sabah said: ''I want to hope that is not yet the case.'' US forces in Iraq should change strategy by withdrawing from inner cities, he said.

''Arab countries and Iraq's other neighbours must cooperate effectively to stop the bloodbath among Iraqis.

''On the other hand, American soldiers should leave Iraqi cities and withdraw to their periphery. I told President Bush that several times.'' Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was key to improving the situation in Iraq, he said.

''Even if we hope that circumstances will soon allow the Americans to accelerate the reconstruction of Iraq, for Kuwait the priority today must be settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,'' he was quoted as saying.

''Without a fair and durable solution of the Palestinian question, frustration in the region will continue.

''The situation can explode at any moment. That would create a climate even more favourable for terrorism.'' Reuters AB VV1556