Some Arab states are backing U.S. President George W. Bush's plan to send more than 20,000 troops to Iraq to try to stabilize the region.

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf Co-operation Council — which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain —all met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Kuwait Tuesday.

Rice is in the region trying to drum up support for Bush's new strategy to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq to halt violence, mainly around Baghdad.

"We expressed our desire to see the president's plan to reinforce American military presence in Baghdad as a vehicle … to stabilize Baghdad and prevent Iraq sliding into this ugly war, this civil war," Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Salem al-Sabah told a joint news conference with Rice.

In a statement, the foreign ministers said that they "welcomed the commitment by the United States" to defend the security of the Gulf and the territorial integrity of Iraq.

It said that sectarian violence "should be condemned" and that all militias "should be disarmed and dismantled."

Earlier, Saudi Arabia, while expressing support for the plan, said its success depends on Iraq's own ability to take control of the situation.

"We agree fully with the goals set by the new strategy, which in our view are the goals that — if implemented — would solve the problems that face Iraq," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a joint news conference in Riyadh with Rice.

"We are hoping these objectives will be implemented, but the means are not in our hands," he said. "They are in the hands of the Iraqis themselves."

But he said the government must "stop the resistance" and "deal with the issue of militias."

"I cannot for the life of me conceive that a country like that would commit suicide," said al-Faisal.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has resisted U.S. pressure in the past to move against militias, but last week he pledged to crack down on political ally Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.

As part of the new strategy in Iraq, Bush has called upon Iraqis to meet their responsibilities, which include disbanding Shia militias and readying their forces to handle security operations in Baghdad.

But many in the Arab world distrust al-Maliki's government, believing it is serving Iran's interests at the expense of Sunnis. In their joint statement, the Arab states also called on Iraq to revise its constitution, saying it favours Shias.