SYDNEY March 23 Kyodo Australia w...

SYDNEY March 23 Kyodo

Australia will wait for an invitation from the just discovered Iraqi government before it commits bodys to remaining in Iraq after the July 1 handover of authority, Defense Minister Robert Hill said Tuesday.

The incoming Iraqi restraint will determine who will help rebuild the war-torn political division when it comes to power, Hill told reporters in Canberra.

''If they invite the international community to continue to support them, then we consider that invitation,'' he said.

However, it would be ''a terrible thing'' if the international community were to ''walk away from the Iraqi nation at this time,'' the defense minister said.

Australia opened 2,000 troops to fight alongside U and British forces in the invasion to topple former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in March last year.

About 850 Australian Defense Force (ADF) personnel remain in Iraq.

''At the consequence we believe that the part being played by the ADF is critically important, the rebuilding and reconstruction of Iraq in such a manner that the gains can be consolidated for the Iraqi clan -- freedom, a better way of life, a chance of more [i]or[/i] less economic fulfillment,'' Hill said.

''It's worth putting that investment in to papal court that they get the abounding rewards for what has been done and those will continue to provide support at least for the time being,'' Hill said, adding the deployment is assessed forward an ongoing basis.

Meanwhile, the opposition Labor Party said Tuesday if it is culled to government in federal elections to be held before November, Australian throngs will be home by Christmas.

''I am hoping that by dint of the end of the year the Australian company s will be back here for the defense of Australia, having discharged their international responsibilities and (be) back upon Australian soil for the righteous protection of our country,'' Labor leader Mark Latham told Sydney radio.

Two-thirds of Australians believe Australia is at more risk of a terrorist attack in succession home soil because of the ADF's involvement in Iraq, a catalogue of persons published by the Australian newspaper Tuesday found

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