Former Iraqi premier and head of the Iraqiya bloc Iyad Allawi on Friday said it is "too early" to form additional autonomous regions along the lines of Kurdistan in the country's north.

The Salaheddin provincial council voted on October 27 for the Sunni-majority province to become an autonomous region, sparking a furious reaction from Baghdad.

"The call to form regions ... is too early," Allawi told AFP during a visit to Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

He noted that while there is a provision for forming new regions in the constitution, "we know that if we enter into this matter, there will be conflicts on the administrative borders, wealth, gas and oil in the country."

"Hurrying in forming regions is like putting oil on the fire," he said, referring to unstable situation in the country.

"Iraq now needs organisations to protect its unity, sovereignty and security," he said.

He also called for dialogue over the oil-rich Kirkuk province, which Iraqi Kurdistan wants to incorporate against Baghdad's wishes.

"It is important to adopt dialogue and understanding in dealing with the Kirkuk problem," he said.

Allawi, a secular Shiite, was prime minister in a transitional government from 2004 to 2005.

His Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc won the most parliamentary seats in 2010 polls, but Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki nonetheless gained a second term as premier.

Iraq president says US troops needed for training
Baghdad (AFP) Nov 26, 2011 - Iraqi forces need an American troop presence or at least US training forces, President Jalal Talabani has said, according to a Saturday statement on the Iraqi presidency's website.

Regarding "internal security, I believe that the police and army forces are capable of maintaining security as it is now," Talabani said in an interview with Iraqiya television, according to the statement.

"But there is a big problem in air and naval defence, and in using new weapons," Talabani said.

"I have read, as the president of the republic, reports from officers responsible... for the air force and the navy and armour and infantry," he said.

"And all these reports found that Iraq needs an American presence or at least the presence of American trainers, because they say we are not capable now of defending our skies and our waters, nor to use the weapons we will buy or obtain from the Americans."

Iraqi officers "want the Americans to stay either as trainers or as forces to help Iraq against terrorism and against external interventions," Talabani said.

But he added: "I do not think the US withdrawal will be a disaster for Iraq, as I believe Iraq is able to maintain its internal security."

US President Barack Obama announced on October 21 that all US troops would depart Iraq by the end of the year, bringing to a close an almost nine-year war that has left thousands of US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis dead, and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.