America’s major Arab allies cautioned yesterday against a rapid troop withdrawal from Iraq that could shake the region, Defense Secretary Gates and Secretary of State Rice said in Egypt.

The concerns were aired in meetings that Mr. Gates and Ms. Rice had in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with President Mubarak of Egypt and top officials from Jordan and Persian Gulf countries.

Mr. Gates said he told the Arab governments that there was an increasing appreciation in Washington across “the entire spectrum of people,” including those who seek a quick withdrawal of troops, that the next American move in Iraq should be measured.

“However it’s done, it needs to be done carefully and with a view toward consequences and that we need not leave Iraq in chaos, in a way that will be destabilizing in the region,” Mr. Gates said.

Mr. Gates said the Egyptian leadership is concerned “that the United States will somehow withdraw precipitously from Iraq” and harm the entire region.

Ms. Rice said the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council — which includes Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — echoed those concerns at a meeting earlier yesterday that was also attended by envoys from Jordan and Egypt.

The group pledged in a joint statement following the meeting to “continue to support Iraq, expand their financial and political support” and urged Iraqis to engage in “national reconciliation.” Northern Iraq’s Kurdish leader, Massoud Barzani, said in an interview yesterday that a civil war could break out if the central government in Baghdad fails to hold a constitutionally mandated referendum on the future of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which Kurds would like to annex to their semi-autonomous region.

The issue of Iraq’s political cohesion came up yesterday in testimony by President Bush’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen. He told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington it was important” that we not let Iraq implode from an overall security standpoint.” Admiral Mullen said the American government must continue to press Iraqi leaders to reach political compromises.

Ms. Rice and Mr. Gates traveled later in the day from Egypt to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for meetings with King Abdullah and the Saudi foreign and defense ministers.

On their trip, Ms. Rice and Mr. Gates are bringing with them plans for more than $20 billion in arms sales for Saudi Arabia and five other Persian Gulf nations. The package includes naval vessels, satellite-guided bombs, and fighter-aircraft upgrades. Talks have opened with Israel and Egypt for new 10-year military assistance packages valued at $30 billion and $13 billion respectively.

In other Iraq news, an American marine was killed in fighting in the vast Anbar province west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the military said yesterday. The marine was killed Monday “while conducting combat operations,” a military statement said, without giving further details. The identity of the marine was withheld pending notification of relatives.

The death raised to at least 3,652 members of the American military who have died since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003.