Australian Acting Prime Minister Mark Vaile on Wednesday said the United States has not made any specific request to Australia to send more troops to Iraq.

His statements came as U.S. President George W. Bush is reportedly considering increasing as many as 20,000 combat soldiers to try to stem the sectarian violence in the war-torn Gulf country.

Vaile said the United States has not directly approached Australia about the issue.

"We've not had any requests, requests as far as any increases are concerned," he told Australia's Macquarie Radio Network.

Meanwhile, he stood by the Australian government's policy of remaining in Iraq until its forces were adequately trained to handle their own security.

"We believe that what we are doing there is the right thing in terms of helping up-skill and train and assist in the development of the Iraqi security forces so they, on behalf of the elected Government of Iraq, can take over and manage the security system there," he said.

"The Australian government's position remains the same, we're not going to cut and run out of Iraq, we're going to stay there until the job is done," he said.

Australia, a staunch supporter of the U.S.-led war on terror, currently maintains around 1,400 troops in the Middle East, including 800 based inside Iraq.

Source: Xinhua