Britain refuses to set Iraq deadline

Iraq's government has made progress toward taking full charge of the country's security, but no deadline could be imposed for reaching that goal, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said today.

"We still see substantial remaining difficulties but we also see improvements and progress in the direction which we all want to see, whereby Iraq can be full in charge of its own destiny,'' Beckett told reporters in Berlin after meeting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"We recognise that is not something - and I know how much this will disappoint you all - on which anybody is going to try to put a date or a deadline on,'' she said.

"This is a process of developing security, and developing service improvement, in which the Iraqi government is engaged and in which we, the international community, are supporting them.''

Yesterday Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh met with Prime Minister Tony Blair in London and urged coalition forces not to ``cut and run'' and said the debate about Iraq's future had become too pessimistic in recent days.

Public opinion surveys suggest that substantial numbers of Britons want to see their troops withdrawn from Iraq amid widespread violence from insurgents.