GENEVA - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday urged both Iran and Syria to be "part of the solution" in Iraq and help the Baghdad government end sectarian fighting

Annan said he had spoken with both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in recent days to prod them to help de-escalate the conflict in Iraq.

"I would urge them to use their influence to help pacify Iraq," Annan said.

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Speaking at a news conference in Geneva, he also said the United States was caught between pressures to withdraw its troops from Iraq, but also calls to stabilize the situation in the country before leaving.

"The U.S., in a way, is trapped in Iraq -- it cannot stay and it cannot leave," he said.