Cosgrove said he did not know how long the deployment would last but added "it will be longer than months".

"We review it all the time and if we make spectacular progress in Iraq ... we would hope to come home but we actually presume it's going to take a while and we need to be patient," he told reporters.

"I think we might have some level of representation there for quite some time because, after all now, we're in a position of supporting the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq.

Australia contributed 2,000 troops to the war on Iraq but has since scaled back its deployment, with defence personnel helping operate Baghdad airport and helping in the search for weapons of mass destruction.

The United States, keen for other nations to help shoulder the burden of rebuilding Iraq, said this week that 30 nations had so far agreed to join it in an international stabilization force and estimated 13,400 non-US troops were deployed in the country.

WAR.WIRE