Baghdad - A senior United States official was on Wednesday quoted in an Iraqi newspaper as saying the US will withdraw its troops from Iraq if the security pact between the two governments is not signed.

"The United States will withdraw its forces from Iraq and refuse to approve an extension of the UN Security Council mandate if the treaty is not signed," David Satterfield, senior advisor to the US secretary of state and the country's Iraq coordinator, told the semi- official Sabah newspaper.

Satterfield met with Iraqi groups opposing the pact to try to persuade them to support it, the newspaper reported. (dpa)