(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-09-07 22:08

Sectarian Divisions

Petraeus and Crocker are expected to highlight improved security but criticise Iraq's politicians for failing to pass laws seen as vital to healing sectarian divisions between warring majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs.

In Sydney for a meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation this week, Bush said he saw signs of progress in Iraq and held out the possibility of a cut in troop numbers from the current 168,000.

The New York Times reported Petraeus had told Bush he wanted to maintain higher troop levels well into next year but could accept a pullback of some 4,000 troops beginning in January.

Petraeus wanted to reduce the risk of military setbacks but his recommendation might satisfy some critics in Congress, the newspaper said, citing senior administration and military officials.

Petraeus "is worried about risk, and all things being equal he'd like to keep as much as he could for as long as he could", a senior military officer told the Times.

In his report, Petraeus will discuss the possibility of far deeper withdrawals, over a period of months beyond January, that could bring levels down to about 130,000 troops, the newspaper reported, citing officials helping prepare the testimony.

More than two thirds of people around the world think US-led forces should pull out within a year, according to a poll published on Friday by the BBC's international service.

The BBC World Service poll, which questioned 23,000 people in 22 countries, found only a quarter of respondents thought foreign troops should stay in Iraq until security improved.

Almost two thirds (61 percent) of Americans who were asked said they thought their forces should leave Iraq within a year, with 24 percent saying they should get out immediately.

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