Bush hails new Iraq leadership

West Sacramento, (California): US President George W Bush hailed an agreement by Iraqi leaders to form a new coalition government as a historic achievement that 'will make America more secure.'

Bush called the agreement, reached after four months of political squabbling and mounting violence, an "important milestone" in Iraq's journey toward democracy. It showed that Iraqis had rejected terrorist efforts to divide them and had instead chosen unity through compromise, he said.

"This historic achievement by determined Iraqis will make America more secure," Bush said.

"Formation of a new Iraqi government is an opportunity for America to open a new chapter in our partnership with the Iraqi people," Bush said.

"The US and our coalition partners will work with the new Iraqi government to reassess our tactics, adjust our methods and strengthen our mutual efforts to achieve victory in this central front on the war on terror," he said.

Iraqi leaders asked Shi'ite politician Jawad al-Maliki Saturday to form a government, possibly ending a four-month deadlock since an election in January.

Bush pledged the US would help the new Iraqi government establish control over militias, rebuild the country's infrastructure and enforce the rule of law.

He said the Iraqi government, once formed, would be responsible for deploying Iraqi security forces against terrorists and insurgents.

Underlining the urgency of that task, the US military announced the deaths of five more American soldiers in two separate roadside bomb attacks south of Iraq. More than 2,380 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

"There's going to be more tough fighting ahead in Iraq and there will be more days of sacrifice and struggle, yet the enemies of freedom have suffered a real blow today and we've taken a great stride on the march to victory," Bush said.

With pressure growing at home for the United States to pull out its more than 130,000 troops, the Bush administration had become increasingly disheartened at how long it was taking to form a new Iraqi government.

Republicans are nervous that the deteriorating situation in Iraq would damage their prospects in the mid-term congressional election in November, when control of both houses of Congress is at stake.

Now, the Bush administration has new hope that a unity government of Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds will lead to more stability and enable US troops to start coming home.