Biden, on the third and final day of a visit to Baghdad, held talks with the war-torn country's President Jalal Talabani, after urging all politicians to "honour the trust" shown in them by voters to act in a democratic manner.

It was not immediately clear whether the US leader's discussions in the capital with parties from across the political spectrum would achieve anything, but his intervention exposed the challenges facing Iraq's fledgling democracy.

Iyad Allawi, a Shiite former premier, insists as the March 7 election's narrow victor that he has the right to become prime minister, especially as his Iraqiya coalition had strong backing in Sunni-dominated provinces.

He has warned that a failure to see Sunni voters properly represented in power could reignite the sectarian violence that saw tens of thousands killed in the years following the 2003 US-led ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein.

Allawi narrowly pushed serving Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-led State of Law alliance into second place in the election, but the incumbent is doggedly fighting to hold on and serve a second term as premier.

Biden's comments at an Independence Day address at the US embassy on Sunday highlighted that the formation of a new government in Baghdad had been stymied by byzantine power struggles and unwillingness to compromise on who gets what.

He stressed that Washington, conducting a phased pullout of US combat troops after seven years of fighting had no "hidden agenda" over Iraq's future.

"My plea to you is finish what you started," Biden said in a speech that was quickly followed by several mortar rounds landing in the Green Zone where the US embassy is located.

"Iraqiya, State of Law, Iraqi National Alliance, the Kurdistan Alliance, all are going to have to play a meaningful role in this new government for it to work," he said, referring to the country's major political blocs.

A reminder of Iraq's fragile security came on Sunday when a long period of relative calm was shattered in Anbar province, whose capital Ramadi was hit by a female suicide bomber who killed at least four people and wounded 23 outside government offices.

On Monday Biden, who flew out of the country late afternoon, also met with Shiite leader Ammar al-Hakim of the influential Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council.

Hakim said in a statement that he told the US leader he would not be part of an "unsuccessful government," in comments interpreted as a snub to lingering but unsubstantiated prospects of an eventual deal between Maliki and Allawi.

Biden stressed on Sunday that real progress on hammering out a government could only be made if leaders put the national interest before all others.

"Subordinating individual interest is fundamental to the success of any nation," he said.

"You should not, and I am sure you will not, let any state, or the United States or any state in the region dictate what will become of you all," he added in a thinly-veiled reference probably directed at Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Biden's remarks came just hours after the firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr called on Iraqi leaders not to be swayed by Washington.

"I advise Allawi and Maliki not to allow the occupier to intervene," said Sadr, whose militia, the Mahdi Army, has repeatedly clashed with US forces since the invasion.

A senior US administration official travelling with Biden, said the vice president had delivered a consistent message during the trip.

"We are not disengaging from Iraq, our engagement is changing. We are moving from a military lead to a civilian lead," said the aide, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"He (Biden) made it very clear that we have no candidates, we have no preferred outcomes. There was no discussion of an American plan for Iraq because there isn't one."

There are currently 77,500 American soldiers in Iraq but all combat troops are due out by September 1, leaving the training and advisory force of 50,000 behind who are themselves scheduled to withdraw by December 2011.

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