BAGHDAD, March 8: The new US commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, said on Thursday reinforcements pouring into Baghdad have a long task ahead of them and warned there is no military solution to the conflict.

The general also said that Iraqi leaders would eventually have to sit down and talk with some of the violent factions tearing the country apart.

At his first news conference since taking charge of US-led forces in Iraq, Gen Petraeus said he shared Iraqis' `horror and sorrow’ when he heard of a suicide attack on Tuesday that killed 117 people.

He said `thugs with no souls’ were carrying out atrocities to derail Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, launched with 90,000 Iraqi and American troops last month in a bid to quell sectarian violence in the Baghdad region.

The US military is implementing a `surge’ of more than 21,500 extra troops into Baghdad and neighbouring Anbar province in support of the plan.

But the general cautioned against expecting too much from the military and warned the security plan would take months to complete.

“There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq,” the general told massed ranks of reporters in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone. “Military action is necessary to help improve security... but it is not sufficient.”—AFP