British officials are denying a newspaper report that London is urging the United States to set a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

A spokesman for the office of Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that what is important is not a timetable but to help Iraq while it determines its own future.  He said Britain's troops will remain in Iraq as long as authorities there want them.

He was responding to a report in London's Daily Telegraph newspaper, which quoted an unnamed government source as reporting that the Blair administration hopes to have the United States agree to announce a timetable.

The newspaper report said that setting the timetable would be an indication that U.S.-led coalition troops do not intend to stay in Iraq indefinitely.  The report said the announcement would bolster Iraq's interim government and undermine insurgents in that country.