Manhattan ? U.S. troops shouldn’t be withdrawn from Iraq until the American and Iraqi governments agree on the best time for that, the outgoing Saudi ambassador to the United States said Friday.

Prince Turki al-Faisal also said Congress shouldn’t limit the number of troops sent to Iraq because it would send a message that President Bush isn’t a “free agent.” Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are questioning Bush’s decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq.

Prince Turki’s comments to reporters came after his appearance as the 147th speaker at the Landon Lecture Series at Kansas State University, where he focused mainly on the changing role of diplomacy, thanks in part to technology.

“People are empowered as never before to affect the outcome of world events. People have a voice, and world leaders listen,” he sold some 1,000 people.

After the speech, he talked about the situation in Iraq and the Middle East. Prince Turki, who resigned as ambassador in December after 15 months on the job, said the United States “came into Iraq uninvited and it should not leave uninvited.”

He said a U.S. withdrawal is inevitable but didn’t offer any suggestion on when that might occur.

“It is the Iraqis on the ground and the American forces and commanders on the ground who know the situation and can enter into an agreement as to when those forces can leave,” he said.

But whenever that decision is made, it should be when the Iraqi government can stand on its own.

“That is what the Iraqis want, and I will support their position on that,” he said.

For the U.S. to withdraw before then would create many problems in a nation torn by war and sectarian violence, he said.

“The presence of American troops at the moment, as deemed by the Iraqi leadership themselves, is necessary to keep the situation in proper perspective and in proper balance,” the ambassador said. “The removal of American forces will definitely create an imbalance in the ability of the Iraqi government to meet the challenges facing them from the insurgency but also from the militias.”

Congressional opposition to Bush’s troop buildup sends the wrong message, Prince Turki said.

“I think any limitations on the president’s authority at this time will send the message that he is not a free agent and thereby will diminish the authority of the president and the authority of the presence of American forces in Iraq,” he said.

Prince Turki said his government is hopeful there will a peaceful solution to the conflict in Iraq in large measure because of the Iraqi people.

“We think the challenges are great, but the people of Iraq throughout their existence have been an inclusive people, and we think that inclusivity is the mainstay of Iraq, not the exclusiveness of the sectarian conflict,” he said.

Prince Turki said while the U.S. image in his part of the world has been tarnished, there are things it could do to regain friendship in the Middle East. He noted it was Bush’s proposal that led to the “roadmap for peace” between Israel and the Palestinians.

“That roadmap for peace needs implementation and it is only the United States that can press the Israeli and the Palestinians to implement the roadmap,” he said.

“We think the United States can also by helping in this Palestinian issue, go on to meet the challenges of the situation in Iraq and hopefully bring that conflict to an amicable end,” Prince Turki said.