Number 10 has given its backing to a new UN security council resolution on Iraq.

Talks were expected to resume in New York later on Monday.

The prime minister's official spokesman said the resolution would codify the transfer of sovereignty to the interim government in Iraq, endorse the timetable for Iraqi elections next January, and help to clarify the role of the UN in the country.

The spokesman said the resolution would amount to the "Iraqi-isation" of the post-conflict situation.

He added that control of the multi-national force in the country was still being "sorted out in detail", but added that the interim government would be working with the coalition under "a framework of consensus".

However, he stated that the coalition would abide by any decision taken by the interim government, even if they requested that the allies pull out of Iraq.

The spokesman added that the prime minister believed the deployment of troops in Iraq would follow the pattern set in unstable regions such as Bosnia and Afghanistan.

"We don't want to be there any longer than we have to be," he said. 

The spokesman also warned that violence in the country could get worse in the run-up to the June 30 handover deadline.