President George W Bush on Saturday handed his commander in Iraq the leading role in deciding the number of US forces in the country, dampening expectations of sustained troop withdrawals throughout this year.

Speaking in Kuwait after a meeting with Gen David Petraeus, the commander of US forces in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, US ambassador to Baghdad, Mr Bush said that it was “fine with me” if Gen Petraeus decided not to continue troop withdrawals from the country or to slow down the pace of the drawdown.