Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister said today that international forces must not be allowed to "cut and run" while the situation in Iraq is still so volatile.

Speaking after talks with Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street, Barham Salih said that by this time next year he hoped that up to eight of the country's 18 provinces would be under control of the Iraqi government.

His comments echoed Mr Blair's statement last week that British forces would remain in Iraq for as long as necessary and the Iraqi leader denied feeling any pressure from the Government over the handover timetable.

"We do believe there is no option for the international community to cut and run, the future of Iraq is vital to the future of the Middle East and the world order.

"This is a society that was traumatised by 35 years of tyranny, and trying to build a functioning democracy in the heart of the Islamic Middle East.

"The pressure that I feel is from my constituents in Iraq who demand of their government delivery of resources and security.

"This is not an easy situation, but we are mindful of our responsibility. At the end of the day, it is for the elected government of Iraq to make tough choices, but for some time we need the support of the international community."

In a separate interview, Mr Salih also spoke out against the defeatist tenor of debate about the progress of the war in America and Europe.

Looming congressional elections in the US have put the Bush Administration's plans for Iraq under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks and the US military today confirmed the death of a Marine, making October 2006 the deadliest month for American troops in Iraq since 2004.

In the UK, the head of the army, General Richard Dannatt provoked intense debate by saying that the presence of British troops in Iraq was exacerbating rather than diminishing the violence and that British forces should withdraw from the country "sometime soon".

"I’m obviously concerned about the debate both in the U.S. and Europe, I have to say, because there is too much of a pessimistic tone to this debate -- even I would say in certain circles a defeatist tone," said Mr Salih. "We need to be realist but not defeatist. We need to understand that there is a need of utmost urgency to deal with many of the problems of Iraq but we must not give in to panic."

A Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister had assured Mr Salih that Britain would "hold its nerve" in Iraq, and not withdraw before the Government and security forces were strong enough to resist the slide towards civil war. It was a message reiterated by Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary:

"We need to keep our nerve. We need to get Iraq back on its feet. We need to establish greater stability," said Ms Beckett.

But the Foreign Secretary did admit that Iraq may end up being split along sectarian lines.

"That is very much a matter for the Iraqis," she told the BBC's World at One. "They have had enough of people from outside handing down arbitrary boundaries and arbitrary decisions."

"Everyone has been very keen to keep everyone together. But in the longer term, they have just set up a constitutional review. It is they, the Iraqis, who are conducting it. It is not for us to say ‘You will do this’ or ‘You will do that’."

Downing Street sought to play down her remarks. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that no senior Iraqi politician had shown any interest in partitioning the country into separate Kurdish, Shia and Sunni states.

"We have no reason to believe that the Iraqi government wants anything other than a unitary state. There are no signs that the Iraqi government wants to split the country," he said.

Earlier a Downing Street spokesman rejected reports that Mr Blair would use the meeting to press Mr Salih for assurances that Iraqi security forces would be ready to take over control of the south of the country within 12 months.

Speculation was fuelled this weekend when Kim Howells, a Foreign Office minister, predicted that the Iraqi forces could be ready to take over completely in less than a year. This view was not shared by Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, who stuck to the government line that British troops would stay until the job was done

"There is a process of transition and handover going on. Obviously we want this process to go as quickly as possible, but we will stay until the job is done," said a Downing Street spokesman today.

Mr Salih tried to use attacks on al-Amarah by Shia militiamen who stormed the town last week as a positive example of how Iraqi security forces are able to maintain control in the country. He stressed that, while British forces were on standby: "It was Iraqi troops that went into the city and reclaimed it."

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