Iraq's defence minister said yesterday he believed his military forces were improving quickly enough to be able to take over some security duties from coalition forces "in the months to come".

The comments by Saadoun al-Dulaimi, in a statement to western news organisations, echoes assessments by US military leaders that improvements in Iraqi forces may allow them to reduce US and allied forces next year. Mr Dulaimi acknowledged that early efforts to rebuild Iraqi forces were mixed, but argued that his government faced a "staggering" challenge that would have been difficult even without an insurgency.