U.S. surge unlikely to last into 2008: Iraq minister

LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. "surge" of troops to impose security in Baghdad could last for months but is unlikely to extend into 2008, Iraq's defense minister Abdel Qader Jassim said on Wednesday.

Washington is sending 21,500 additional troops to Iraq, plus support troops, mainly to impose security in the capital as part of a Baghdad security plan.

Asked during a visit to London if the U.S. surge would continue through the summer, Jassim told Reuters in English: "Maybe. What will be will depend on the Baghdad situation."

Asked if the surge could continue into next year, he said: "I don't think so."

Previous attempts to impose security in the capital foundered in part because Iraq failed to provide as many of its own troops as promised.

Jassim said two Iraqi brigades of 4,000-5,000 troops each had arrived in Baghdad and nearby Diyala province as part of the plan and two more will arrive in the next week or two.

The security plan has so far succeeded in reducing killings by sectarian death squads and criminal gangs, Jassim told an earlier press conference. He vowed that the Iraqi army would continue the crackdown after the Americans had gone.

"The Iraqi army and the Baghdad security plan are going to be a permanent feature," he said through an interpreter.