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Bush holds more Iraq policy talks Bush delays fresh Iraq strategy
(about 11 hours later)
US President George W Bush is to hold a second day of talks with US and Iraqi officials, as he considers possible changes to US policy in Iraq. President George W Bush will delay his announcement of possible changes to US policy in Iraq until after the new year, the White House has confirmed.
Mr Bush is due to speak by video link to the US ambassador to Baghdad and American military commanders in Iraq. The speech - which had been expected before Christmas - was "not ready yet", White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
He will later meet Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi, the highest-ranking Sunni politician in Iraq, at the White House. The news comes as Mr Bush held a second day of talks with top US and Iraqi officials on the Iraq issue.
The talks follow a recent report on US policy in Iraq that called for urgent action to stop "a slide towards chaos".The talks follow a recent report on US policy in Iraq that called for urgent action to stop "a slide towards chaos".
Our objective is to help the Iraqi government deal with the extremists and the killers, and support the vast majority of Iraqis who... who want peace US President George W Bush In pictures: Baghdad bombing
The high-level review by the Iraq Study Group (ISG) published last week said the current US strategy of staying the course was no longer viable.The high-level review by the Iraq Study Group (ISG) published last week said the current US strategy of staying the course was no longer viable.
It offered no hard timetable for a pullout of US forces, but said combat troops could withdraw by early 2008.It offered no hard timetable for a pullout of US forces, but said combat troops could withdraw by early 2008.
Its 79 recommendations included holding direct talks with Iran and Syria. The report's 79 recommendations included holding direct talks with Iran and Syria.
On Tuesday, at least 70 people were killed and more than 230 injured in Baghdad after a suicide attacker set off a large bomb in the capital.
Correspondents say the blast appears to be the latest violence in a spiral of sectarian attacks.
'New alliance''New alliance'
Mr Bush, who is holding three days of discussions with experts on Iraq, is expected to make a televised address on the direction of US policy before Christmas. Mr Snow said that President Bush's televised address on the direction of US policy in Iraq "is not going to happen until the new year".
Iraq's vice-president is the highest-ranking Sunni politician in IraqHe is scheduled to visit the Pentagon on Wednesday, having consulted State Department officials on Monday. Iraq's vice-president is the highest-ranking Sunni politician in Iraq
Iraq's vice-president is the latest in a series of Iraqi leaders to meet Mr Bush. "He decided that, frankly, it's not ready yet," the spokesman said, insisting it did not mean that Mr Bush was planning any major last-minute revisions.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Mr Hashimi was "committed to trying to strengthen the Iraqi government in such a way that it's able to sustain, govern and defend itself", the AFP news agency reports. With opinion polls suggesting the US public's dissatisfaction with Iraq policy is getting worse, the speech is sure to be one of the most important of Mr Bush's presidency, the BBC's James Coomarasamy reports from Washington.
"It's part of a continuing effort to build that moderate coalition that involves Sunni, Shia and Kurds," Mr Snow said. On Tuesday, President Bush presided over a videoconference with his senior military commanders in Iraq, including outgoing Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his successor Robert Gates.
Mr Bush also met Iraq's Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi.
"Our objective is to help the Iraqi government deal with the extremists and the killers, and support the vast majority of Iraqis who are reasonable, who want peace," Mr Bush said.
For his part, Mr Hashimi - who has lost both his brother and his sister to the insurgency - praised President Bush's determination.
He said that while times were hard in Iraq, there was a "light in the corridor".
Mr Hashimi is the latest in a series of Iraqi leaders to meet Mr Bush - last week he held talks with a senior Shia politician.
Iraqi politicians say several groups, including the party led by Mr Hashimi, are discussing a new alliance designed to isolate the movement of the anti-American Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr.Iraqi politicians say several groups, including the party led by Mr Hashimi, are discussing a new alliance designed to isolate the movement of the anti-American Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr.
'Foundation for peace'
Following a State Department briefing on Monday, Mr Bush spoke of the responsibilities of neighbouring countries to help Iraqis, although he avoided mentioning Iran and Syria by name.
"Success in Iraq will help protect the United States in the long run.
"We believe that most of the countries understand that a mainstream society, a society that is a functioning democracy is in their interests and it is up to us to help focus their attentions and focus their efforts on helping Iraqis succeed," he said.
He defined success in Iraq as "a country that governs, defends itself, that is a free society, that serves as an ally in this war on terror".
The BBC's James Coomarasamy in Washington says Mr Bush appeared to signal a subtle change in his language, referring to Iraq not as the central front in the war on terror, but as a component part, if an important one, of laying the foundation for peace.
Although the significance in policy terms is not immediately clear, the wording echoes that used by new Defence Secretary Robert Gates and suggests that the Bush administration may be about to recast the US mission in Iraq, our correspondent says.