Egypt's Mubarak opposes U S withdrawal from Iraq

DUBLIN, Dec 6 (Reuters) An immediate withdrawal of U S troops from Iraq would be dangerous but staying is also risky, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview published today.

He told the Irish Times Iraq needs a strong leader but he did not name anyone. ''I don't want to mention any names now,'' he said in an interview before his first visit to Ireland, which starts on Wednesday and is part of a tour including France and Germany.

The Egyptian leader opposed the U S invasion of Iraq in 2003 but since the fall of President Saddam Hussein has said U S troops should stay until law and order is restored.

''Withdrawal now is very dangerous, and I underline it ...

Staying is also dangerous and complicated, because the opposition will work against them,'' Mubarak said.

The solution he offered was rebuilding the Iraqi army and police and national reconciliation -- a strategy Washington says it has tried for the past two years.

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mubarak said he saw signs of hope in that ''key players'' had recognised that a settlement there would help bring peace in Iraq and elsewhere.

U S neoconservatives who dominated policy-making in the early presidency of George W Bush argued that overthrowing Saddam and turning Iraq into a democracy would make it easier to end the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

''Any progress along the Palestinian-Israeli track will trigger a positive spillover,'' Mubarak said. ''Recently we note an evolving recognition of this reality among important international key players. This recognition, though late, represents a window of opportunity we must seize.'' REUTERS LL BS1942