Mission accomplished, Gulf backs US on Iraq plan

KUWAIT: United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wound up her visit to the Gulf on Wednesday after winning support from Arab allies for US plans to deploy 20,000 more troops in an effort to stabilise Iraq.

Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, said however that the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government also had to play a role in curbing sectarian violence and that the Shi'ite militias blamed for sectarian killings must be disbanded.

Before leaving Kuwait for Europe, Rice met Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Salem al-Sabah for bilateral talks, Kuwait's official news agency KUNA said.

Sheikh Mohammad was among eight Arab foreign ministers, including the six Gulf Cooperation Council members, who met Rice in Kuwait on Tuesday and backed the US plan, fearing that chaos in Iraq might spread across the region.

But the Gulf Arab countries also fear the new plan could eventually lead to an early departure of US troops, leaving sectarian violence to spill to neighbours like Saudi Arabia, which is also home to a Shi'ite minority.

Washington has been urging Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to play a greater role in stabilising Iraq.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, fears an early US troop withdrawal would solidify Shi'ite power and leave fellow Sunnis at the mercy of Shi'ite militias.

Rice, who earlier visited Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan was also due in Germany and Britain.