UNITED NATIONS, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani urged more countries on Thursday to bolster ties with Baghdad and called on the United Nations to increase its presence, citing recent security gains across the country.

In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Talabani reasserted the Iraqi government's goal of taking over security responsibility from U.S.-led forces in all of its provinces by the end of the year.

"We therefore call on ... all countries, particularly after the great improvement in the security situation, to open or reopen diplomatic missions and to enhance representation," Talabani said. "We call on the United Nations to raise its presence in Iraq."

Several Arab states named ambassadors to Iraq recently after the United States criticized them for acting slowly on normalizing relations with the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.

When President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he did so without explicit U.N. approval.

The United Nations scaled back its presence after Islamic militants bombed its Baghdad headquarters five years ago. It has been slow to restore staffing but is now expanding its role in Iraq's efforts toward sectarian reconciliation.

Talabani insisted that Iraq, with the ouster of Saddam Hussein, is no longer a threat to its neighbors and that the elected government has worked hard to forge regional ties.

Visits to Baghdad by Middle Eastern leaders have increased as violence in Iraq has dropped to a four-year low.

"We call upon the international community to support Iraq," Talabani said.

Recent successes by Iraqi forces have emboldened Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to seek a time-frame for U.S. troop drawdowns under a security deal under negotiation.

Bush has long resisted any kind of fixed timetable for troop cuts, but he announced earlier this month that 8,000 troops would be withdrawn by February without being replaced, leaving about 138,000 in place. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick, editing by Philip Barbara)

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