Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has urged the United States not to withdraw hastily from Iraq and said US forces should be reduced gradually over the next two years.
"For those who call for an immediate pull-out of American troops, we say that we honor the sacrifices the United States has made," Mr Talabani said in a speech at a Washington hotel.
"A withdrawal of American and multinational forces in the near future could lead to the victory of the terrorists in Iraq and create grave threats to the region," he added.
Asked how long he would like US and other forces to stay in Iraq, Mr Talabani said the plan was to gradually reduce US forces over the next two years.
"Not only would we need American forces to fight against terrorism, we need some of them to frighten our neighbors and prevent them from interfering in our internal affairs," he said.
The United States has about 140,000 troops in Iraq and is training Iraqi forces to take over but recent US military assessments question the capability of Iraqi forces.
US President George W Bush has said America will stay in Iraq for as long as it takes, but US public support has eroded in recent months and public skepticism is expected to grow in the disorganized aftermath of Hurricane Katrina which devastated the US Gulf Coast.
Later, Mr Talabani told a joint news briefing with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that in two years from now, he foresaw Iraq's government asking the United States to keep "small groups of Americans" in "two, three small bases."
He was not specific when asked how many American troops he believed should stay in Iraq after two years.
"We want [an] American presence. Not the big number - only the presence [that]is enough to prevent others from interfering in our internal affairs," he said.
Mr Rumsfeld did not endorse Mr Talabani's vision for the future of US troops in Iraq. "Lest my silence indicate anything at all, which it should not, let me simply say that the president of Iraq is free to say whatever he wishes. And he has done so," Rumsfeld said.