The US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is now on his Middle East tour, said on Tuesday that the resignations of six Iraqi cabinet ministers loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr might have positive impact on the reconciliation process in Iraq.

"I think the impact of these resignations will depend, in some measure on who is selected to replace these ministers and their capabilities, and whether those vacancies are used in a way that can perhaps further advance the reconciliation process," Gates told reporters after his meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

He added that "there is the opportunity to turn what might seem like a negative potentially into a positive development."

Broadening the representation in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet could help accelerate the reconciliation process in Iraq, Gates said.

Iraq's six cabinet ministers from bloc led by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Monday withdrew from the Maliki government, in a bid to press for timetable of the US troops' withdrawal. But the bloc's 30 legislators will continue to participate in the parliament.

Gates, however, said that the enactment of specific deadlines for troop withdrawal would be wrong.

"I've been pretty clear that I think the enactment of specific deadlines would be a bad mistake. But I think the debate itself, and I think the strong feelings expressed in the Congress about the timetable probably has had a positive impact, at least I hope it has, in terms of communicating to the Iraqis that this is not an open-ended commitment," he said.

Gates arrived in Jordan on Monday at the start of his three-nation Middle East tour aimed at urging allies in the region to help bolster the fledgling Iraqi government and offset the Iranian influence there.

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2007)