'Iraq to ask foreign troops to leave after Jan vote'

"In January there will be elections that will lead to the creation of a fully legitimate Iraqi government which will want to rapidly free itself of coalition forces," Martino told the daily Corriere della Sera.

But he cautioned that the United States and its war allies would not be willing to withdraw their troops from the oil-rich country until and unless the Iraqi armed forces gained the upper hand over extremists operating throughout the violence-wracked nation.

"Already the Iraqis are showing they intend to manage on their own. They have more than 100,000 well-trained and well-equipped soldiers and police officers," Martino said.

Martino said interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi wanted to hasten the departure of coalition troops and that Washington would be happy to pull its nearly 140,000 soldiers out -- if and when Iraqi forces succeeded in reining in extremists.

"Allawi wants to speed up the departure of the coalition's men. Allawi is described as a US puppet but he is not in the United States' grip. He thinks if the coalition forces had a lower visibility it could help the democratic process," Martino said.

Meanwhile, US air raids destroyed two buildings said to belong to top Islamic militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi in the Iraqi city of Fallujah yesterday where witnesses claimed a family of six were killed.

Earlier a suicide car bomb exploded on the road to Baghdad's international airport yesterday but killed only the driver, while a roadside bomb blew up near a US vehicle but caused no casualties, the US army said.

AP adds: Care International suspended operations in Iraq yesterday after gunmen kidnapped the woman who ran the humanitarian organisation's work in the country. The victim's Iraqi husband said her captors had not contacted the family or her employer.

Margaret Hassan, who holds British, Irish and Iraqi citizenship, was seized early Tuesday on her way to work in western Baghdad after gunmen blocked her route and dragged the driver and a companion from the car, her husband said.