(Adds Rice, Pentagon spokesman, background)

By Tabassum Zakaria and Suleiman al-Khalidi

AMMAN, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday his government's forces would be able to take over security command from U.S. troops by June 2007 -- a move which could allow the United States to start withdrawing.

"I cannot answer on behalf of the U.S. administration but I can tell you that from our side our forces will be ready by June 2007," Maliki told ABC television after meeting U.S. President George W. Bush in Jordan.

Bush offered him strong backing and said Iraqi forces would be trained more quickly to take over but rejected suggestions he was seeking a "graceful exit" for U.S. troops.

According to a transcript, Maliki said: "At the beginning of next year we will increase the training of our forces ... when they reach an acceptable level, we can talk about transferring power from multinational forces to Iraqi forces.

"I can say that Iraqi forces will be ready, fully ready to receive this command and to command its own forces, and I can tell you that by next June our forces will be ready."

Bush told a joint news conference earlier Maliki was the "right guy" for Iraq, countering talk he had lost faith in the prime minister amid sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims that is overshadowing the Sunni insurgency.

"Part of the prime minister's frustrations is that he doesn't have the tools necessary to take care of those who break the law," Bush said in Amman.

"We talked today about accelerating authority to the prime minister so he can do what the Iraqi people expect him to do."

U.S. troops were in Iraq to "get the job done" and would stay as long as the Baghdad government wanted them there, said Bush. Defeat for Bush's Republicans in recent congressional elections has put pressure on him to pull out U.S. troops.

Bush spoke after reports an independent, bipartisan group will recommend the U.S. military shift from combat to a support role in Iraq, and will call for a regional conference that could lead to direct U.S. talks with Iran and Syria, both accused by Washington of fomenting violence in their neighbour.

"We agreed on the importance of speeding up the training of Iraq security forces," Bush said.

"It's in our interests to help liberty prevail in the Middle East, starting with Iraq. And that's why this business about 'graceful exit' simply has no realism to it at all."

U.S. Army Gen. John Abizaid, top U.S. commander for the Middle East, said this month he was looking at ways to hand overall security responsibility to Iraqi forces in 12 months.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would not comment on Maliki's timeframe but said: "It's good to see the prime minister confident in the developing capabilities of his security forces". Analysts express deep scepticism about them.

LOYALTIES

U.S. commanders have grave worries about the effectiveness of Iraqi police and troops and their sectarian loyalties. The Sunni minority views some units as hostile Shi'ite militias.

A source familiar with the deliberations of the bipartisan Iraqi Study Group said the idea was for U.S. combat forces to pull back to bases in Iraq and in the region over the next year or so. "It's basically a redeployment," the source said.

The panel is to present its report to Bush on Dec. 6.

Back in Baghdad, Maliki stressed that the renewal this week of a U.N. mandate covering deployment of U.S.-led forces in Iraq until the end of 2007 introduced language saying the goal was to transfer full security control to the Iraqis.

Bush declared support for Maliki after U.S. officials denied the Iraqi leader had been offended by a critical White House memo and had not snubbed Bush.

"He's the right guy for Iraq and we're going to help him and it's in our interest to help him," Bush said.

He and Maliki had ruled out any idea of breaking up Iraq. "The prime minister made clear ... partition of Iraq would only lead to an increase in sectarian violence. I agree," Bush said.

The emir of neighbouring Kuwait was quoted as saying a U.S. pullout would not stabilise Iraq. "On the contrary, the situation would worsen and we would see a civil war of great intensity for which the whole world would pay the price," Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah told the French daily Le Figaro.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met ministers from moderate Arab states in Jordan on Thursday and urged them to find concrete ways to support Iraq's government.

Bush had expected to see Maliki on Wednesday, along with Jordan's King Abdullah. He was told while travelling the Jordanians and Iraqis had decided against a three-way meeting.

Abdullah met both leaders separately.

U.S. officials insisted the change had nothing to do with a memo by White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley that questioned Maliki's ability to control the turmoil in Iraq.

(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan and Dean Yates in Amman, Arshad Mohammed in Washington, Francois Murphy in Paris and Mussab Al-Khairalla in Baghdad)

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