WASHINGTON, June 22: The United States and the new Iraqi government might mutually agree to impose martial law in selected areas of the country after the June 30 handover of sovereignty, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said on Tuesday.

Mr Wolfowitz also said it was "entirely possible" US forces would be in Iraq for years to come, recalling that US troops have been in Bosnia for eight years. Paul Wolfowitz, who recently returned from Iraq, was asked at House Armed Services Committee hearing about a recent statement by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi that he was considering the imposition of martial law after sovereignty is returned.

"I think we would have to know what he means by that," Wolfowitz said. "As I recall, the statement he made actually was in selected areas and I think it would depend on what areas. It might actually be something that we might mutually agree was necessary to bring order in a particularly difficult place," he said.

"But as in Afghanistan, we are certainly under no obligation to enforce edicts or decrees of the Iraqi government that we don't agree with," he said. Mr Wolfowitz said US commanders would have ultimate responsibility over the safety of their troops and would be under no obligation to enforce decisions by the Iraqi government.

WITHDRAWAL: Representative Ike Skelton, a Democrat, pressed Mr Wolfowitz to say when the United States can begin to think about drawing down its 138,000 troops in Iraq.