BAGHDAD — Iraq's foreign minister warned today that a quick American military withdrawal from the country could lead to civil war and the collapse of the government, as pressure on the Bush administration for a pullout grows.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd from northern Iraq, also said Turkey has massed 140,000 soldiers on its border with northern Iraq, where the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, has bases and launches attacks on Turkish forces.

"Turkey's fears are legitimate but such things can be discussed," Zebari said. "The perfect solution is the withdrawal of the Turkish forces from the borders."

He said there had been no "Turkey military violation until now," citing artillery shelling and Turkish surveillance overflights.

Attacks in Baghdad killed 13 people as prominent Shiite and Sunni politicians called on Iraqi civilians to take up arms to defend themselves after a weekend of violence that claimed more than 220 lives.

The burst of violence comes at a sensitive time. U.S. forces are waging offensives in and around Baghdad aimed at uprooting militants and bringing calm to the capital, and a progress report to Congress is due on July 15. At the same time, several Republican congressman have joined calls for a withdrawal from Iraq.

Zebari said Iraqis "understand the huge pressure that will increase more and more in the United States" ahead of the progress report by the U.S. ambassador and top commander in Iraq.

"We have held discussion with members of Congress and explained to them the dangers of a quick pull out (from Iraq) and leaving a security vacuum," Zebari said. "The dangers could be a civil war, dividing the country, regional wars and the collapse of the state.

"In our estimations, until Iraqi forces are ready, there is a responsibility on the United States to stand with the (government) as the forces are being built," he said.

The calls for the arming of civilians to fight insurgents reflected the growing frustration with Iraqi security forces' inability to prevent extremists' attacks.

The governor of Salahuddin province announced he had detained the police chief of Armili, a Shiite town that was hit in the most devastating of the weekend attacks, a suicide truck bomber who killed at least 130 people.

Gov. Hamad Hmoud Shagti told The Associated Press that the police chief was under investigation for security failures and that 250 police were sent to Armili, a town of 26,000 people with longtime tensions between Shiites and Sunnis that one lawmaker said had only 30 police officers before the attack.

The latest attacks in Baghdad followed a surge of bloodshed in the capital on Sunday, when around 60 Iraqis were killed in bombings, shootings and kidnap-slayings.