World has duty to support Iraq, Blair says

Tony Blair and George W. Bush discussed Iraq and Iran at their White House meeting. Picture / Reuters.

WASHINGTON - It is the duty of the entire international community - not just the US and Britain - to support the new Iraqi government, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said.

But Mr Blair and US President George W. Bush, speaking after talks at the White House, declined to set timetables for the withdrawal of their countries' troops from Iraq.

Both leaders acknowledged the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 had been divisive, but agreed it was time to look to the future now that the Iraqis had gone to the polls and freely elected a new government.

"It is our duty, but it is also the duty of the whole international community to get behind this government and support it," Mr Blair said.

Both leaders have seen their poll numbers plummet - in part because of the increasingly unpopular and deadly war in Iraq - and are under pressure to bring home some of their troops.

Iraq's new prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, said his forces were capable of taking control of security within 18 months, but that he needed more recruits, training and equipment.

"First of all, we're going to work with our partners in Iraq, the new government, to determine the best way forward in achieving an objective, which is an Iraq that can govern itself and sustain itself and defend itself," President Bush said.

The leaders declined to set a timetable for the withdrawal of US and British troops from Iraq.

There are now about 132,000 US troops and 8,000 British troops in the country.

President Bush said he viewed the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal as his administration's biggest mistake in Iraq.

- REUTERS