BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has promised to improve Iraqi armed forces to the level that they no longer need support from U.S.-led troops, his office said on Thursday.

Following a meeting with Interior Minister Jawad Bolani and other key security officials, Maliki said he was happy with the progress of building the new Iraqi armed forces, but more needed to be done.
""We see that our forces have a high level of capability and this makes us feel proud and honored, but we want the performance to be complete so that they don't need (external) support,"" his office quoted him as saying.
Maliki, who is commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, promised to meet all the needs of the armed forces and support them to reach higher standards as they are expected to take over security duties from U.S. troops.
The Iraqi administration is building new military and police forces.
Maliki has said Washington and Baghdad have agreed to withdraw U.S. combat forces from Iraqi cities by June 2009 and from the country by 2011.
The agreement is part of a contentious security deal being hammered out by the two countries that would decide the future of U.S. forces in Iraq beyond 2008.