WASHINGTON, June 9: US President George W. Bush said on Friday he does not believe the death of Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi will bring immediate stability to Iraq.

“I don’t want the American people to think that a war is won with the death of one person, that we have still more work to do,” Mr Bush told a news conference at the Camp David presidential resort near Washington.”

He said removing Zarqawi was a major blow to Al Qaeda and was going “to help a lot” but “it’s not going to end the war, it’s certainly not going to end the violence.”

Disagreeing with the new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s assessment that Iraqi force will be able to control their country within 18 months, Mr Bush said US troops will stay in Iraq for as long as it takes to stabilize the situation.

Asked if he thought Mr Maliki’s timetable was realistic, Mr Bush said:. “We’ll get a realistic appraisal about the capacity for standing up Iraqi troops as this new government begins to function as a government.”

He said until that assessment was made, he will not be able to tell the American people “what stand up, stand down means.”