The spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Laith Kubba, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he had recently visited al-Muthanna province and its capital, Samawah, where the 450 Australians are based, and found the area safe.
"It is one of the safest provinces in Iraq," he said. "There is actually no need for the troops to be there."
Mr Kubba said a new national assembly due to be elected on December 15 could call for the withdrawal of troops from city centers and areas where insurgents opposed to the presence of foreign soldiers in the country are not active, including al-Muthanna.
"I would not be surprised at all if the new national assembly would ask troops to withdraw from all city centers and may withdraw totally from some of the provinces in the mid-south, that includes Samawah where the Australian troops are," he said.
But he said areas north of Baghdad and along Iraq's borders would still need foreign protection.
"I think Iraq will still need some foreign troops to be kept out of cities but still in Iraq, because currently Iraq does not have the capacity to defend its borders," Mr Kubba said.
"We have too many strong neighbours and a weak army currently."
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer expressed surprise at Mr Kubba's remarks and said Canberra had no intention of ordering an early withdrawal of its troops, currently scheduled to remain in Iraq for another six months.
"We certainly haven't been informed of those views by the Iraqi prime minister," Mr Downer said on ABC radio.
"Our premature withdrawal will lead to the so-called insurgents and the terrorists to plunge Iraq back into, first of all chaos, and then tyranny," he said.
But Mr Downer also acknowledged the upcoming elections and said "it'll be for the new Iraqi government, as a result of that election, to make those kinds of judgements".
The 450 Australian troops are training local Iraqi military and providing security for a contingent of Japanese military engineers in al-Muthanna.
Iraq was expected to be at the center of discussions in the South
Australian city of Adelaide on Friday between Mr Downer, Defence Minister Robert Hill and US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, who is in Australia for annual US-Australia ministerial talks.
SKorea withdrawal
Meanwhile South Korea plans to withdraw about one-third of its troops from Iraq next year said Defence Minister Yoon Kwang-ung.
Yoon reported the plan to the ruling Uri Party on Friday, the ministry said.
The announcement comes a day after South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun met US President George W Bush in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, where the leaders insisted that their countries' alliance was strong and agreed to work together to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions.
South Korea’s Defence Ministry said it plans to include the troop reduction plan when it seeks parliamentary approval for extending the deployment in Iraq as it is required to do each year.
About 3,200 South Korean troops are stationed in northern Iraq to help rehabilitate the country, making South Korea the second-largest US-coalition partner contributing forces after Britain.