The President of Iraq says that the insurgency racking the country could be ended immediately and British and US troops allowed to go home if the government was prepared to accept the help of existing civilian militias.

But if the authorities wait until national security forces are ready to do the job, stamping out the rebellion could take years, said Jalal Talabani.

He was referring to the large standing armies linked to ethnic and religious movements, such as the Badr Brigade which acts as the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), a Shia group backed by Iran, and also the 80,000-strong Kurdish Peshmerga guerillas.

Both militias have already offered to help formally with maintaining security. So far, however, their offers have been refused, with American advisers to the outgoing interim government preferring to rely on coalition forces while a new national army is recruited and trained.

Mr Talabani told the BBC: "In my opinion, Iraqi forces, the popular forces and government forces, are now ready to end the insurgency and end this terrorism.

"But there is a kind of thinking inside the (outgoing) government that they must not use them.

"We cannot wait for years and years of terrorist activity because we haven't enough government forces."

American analysts and many moderate Iraqis are understood to fear that using ethnic fighters will increase conflict between Iraq's warring communities rather than allay it, pitting Kurd and Shia militiamen against an almost entirely Sunni insurgency.

Mr Talabani admitted that the Americans opposed using irregular troops, adding: "But we are independent now."

He said that he would welcome Sunni leaders who wanted to join the political process to help reduce the unrest in their areas.

He added that he favoured an amnesty for rebels, to encourage insurgents to switch sides and stop fighting the new regime.

He also backed allowing former members of Saddam Hussein's once dominant Baath party to hold civil service jobs, although he said they should not be allowed in the army unless they were known to oppose Saddam.

In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Talabani - a Kurdish lawyer and human rights advocate - said that he personally would refuse to sign a death warrant for the former Iraqi leader, who is due to stand trial for crimes against his own people.

"Personally, no, I won't sign," he said.

"But you know, the presidency of Iraq are three people. These three must decide. So I can be absent. I can go on holiday and let the two others decide."

All the other members of the new Iraqi leadership were in favour of executing the former dictator, he added, even before he had gone on trial. He doubted that executing Saddam would fuel the insurgency.

"I think if he'll be finished, many of his followers will give up their hope or their wishful thinking that one day he will come back," he said.

James Hider, Baghdad Correspondent for The Times, said that the fear was that letting loose ethnic militias to fight Sunni insurgents would deepen the conflict and carve up the country on ethnic lines.

"Everyone here is very cautious and nervous about the use of militias belonging to political parties, who are not accountable or beholden to the state.

"A lot of people fear that it could lead to full-scale sectarian conflict."

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