U.S. Iraq commander expects further troop cuts

By Andrew Gray

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said on Thursday he expected to make further troop cuts after a 45-day freeze in withdrawals that begins in July.

Petraeus also told senators considering his nomination to the U.S. military's top Middle East post that Iran was a destabilizing influence in the region. But he backed U.S. efforts to use diplomatic and economic pressure on Tehran, saying military action was a last resort.

Petraeus also endorsed U.S. intelligence estimates that al Qaeda leaders are based in tribal areas of Pakistan and any future attack on the United States was likely to originate there. He pledged more help for Pakistan's government.

Following a tour in Iraq marked by a steep decline in violence, Petraeus is slated to take over U.S. Central Command, responsible for military operations in an unstable swath of the world including the Middle East, Central Asia and East Africa. He has been in his current post since February 2007.

Petraeus is overseeing a reduction in U.S. forces in Iraq to leave around 140,000 troops there by mid-July. He said he expected to recommend resuming withdrawals after taking stock until around the beginning of September.

"My sense is that I will be able to make a recommendation at that time for some further reductions," he said, although he could not predict the size of any further troop cut.

The United States has some 155,000 troops in Iraq, more than five years after the start of a war which is now broadly unpopular with the U.S. public and is likely to be a key issue in the presidential and congressional elections this November.