NEW YORK - THE US government will pull its support from General Motors if the automaker does not get court permission for a speedy exit from bankruptcy protection by July 10, an official testified on Wednesday.

GM is seeking court permission to sell its best assets to a new company in which the US government will get a majority stake.

Should the plan be approved in time, Wilson said the government could begin to sell its stake as early as 2010, once the new company is ready to launch a public stock offering.

Officials have said the Obama administration has no intention of nationalizing General Motors over the long term and will not be participating in its day-to-day operations.

Under intense questioning from lawyers representing creditors dissatisfied with the plan, Wilson testified that the government had determined that a speedy bankruptcy was the only way to save GM from liquidation.

Judge Robert Gerber appears determined to plow through the objections as quickly as possible and has repeatedly asked lawyers to keep their line of questioning focused on the task of salvaging the company.

Mr Gerber could order GM to modify its plan to meet some of the 850 objections mounted by creditors or the automaker could reach a deal outside of court in order to speed up the process.

Should Mr Gerber dismiss the objections and grant GM the green light, creditors are given the right to appeal.

But the precedent established by Chrysler's rapid-fire bankruptcy makes it unlikely they will succeed in blocking the automaker's swift emergence. -- AFP