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BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) -- Iraq is vital to the world's future and the West cannot cut and run despite growing anxiety over the relentless bloodshed there, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said on Monday.
Saleh, in London for talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair and other ministers, voiced concern at the growing pressure on the British and U.S. governments to change direction in Iraq given the heavy death toll among coalition forces and Iraqis.
He stressed that Iraqi forces were gradually taking over responsibility for security but said Iraq needed the "enduring support" of the international community to combat what he called "a difficult onslaught by terrorists."
Asked about a pledge by Australia's opposition to pull the country's troops out of Iraq if it wins the next election, Saleh said: "I do believe there is no option for the international community to cut and run."
"The fate of Iraq is vital to the future of the Middle East and the world order," he told reporters.
U.S. military deaths in Iraq in October have reached at least 85, making it the deadliest month for Americans this year and raising pressure on President George W. Bush before Congressional elections next month in which Republicans could lose majorities in both houses.
U.S. military officials in Iraq have admitted that a two-month plan to secure Baghdad has failed to curb violence.
In Britain, army chief General Richard Dannatt sparked a political storm this month by saying British troops should withdraw from Iraq soon as their presence was worsening the security situation there and in the wider world.
Saleh emerged from talks with Blair saying he was "heartened to know the prime minister's continued commitment to the cause of democracy, freedom and stability in Iraq".
Blair's spokesman denied Blair had put any pressure on Saleh to speed up the handover of security in the south to Iraqi forces.
"We are not working to an arbitrary deadline. It is dependent on the condition, the numbers, the quality and the ability of the Iraqi forces," he said.
Saleh said the Iraqi government hoped to speed up the process of taking control of security.
"By the end of this year, nearly seven or eight provinces of Iraq out of 18 provinces will be under direct Iraqi security control," he said.
Saleh said Iraqi troops had reclaimed the southern town of Amara from militias, without needing coalition troops, after 25 people were killed there last week in clashes between Shi'ite militias and police.
The Iraqi government on Monday announced a curfew in Amara due to the security situation there.
Saleh told BBC radio he was concerned about the debate in both the United States and Europe "because there is too much of a pessimistic tone to this debate -- even I would say in certain circles a defeatist tone".
"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."
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