US says Iraq in 'new phase' but denies civil war

Tallinn, Nov 28: The White House acknowledged on Monday that sectarian violence in Iraq had entered ''a new phase'' but denied it amounted to civil war.

President George W Bush will discuss with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Jordan this week efforts to deal with Iraq's worsening bloodshed and will reassure Maliki of US support as he grapples with political tensions after a Baghdad bombing that killed more than 200 people.

''We're clearly in a new phase, characterised by this increasing sectarian violence that requires us obviously to adapt to that new phase and these two leaders need to be talking about how to do that,'' White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters accompanying Bush to the Estonian capital, Tallinn.

Bush is in Europe for a summit with NATO allies in the Latvian capital, Riga, today and tomorrow.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said earlier that Iraq was close to civil war and the US television network NBC has already branded it one.

''The Iraqis don't talk of it as a civil war,'' Hadley said, arguing that the police and army had not fractured on sectarian lines and the Iraqi unity government was holding together.

Bush is facing growing pressure to shift course on Iraq after U.S. voters ousted his Republican party from power in Congress earlier this month.

Divided

A panel led by former Secretary of State James Baker and ex-congressman Lee Hamilton, will present recommendations on Iraq to Bush in December.

But the panel appears to be divided over whether its report should call for a timetable for a withdrawal of US troops, according to the New York Times.

The Times also said the panel may recommend the United States engage directly Iran and Syria to try to enlist their help in quelling the violence in Iraq. The Bush administration has been cool to the idea of such contacts.

Hadley said Bush and Maliki would likely discuss that issue in their meeting Wednesday and Thursday in Jordan.

''I think you're going to find that Prime Minister Maliki is going to bring that up with the president,'' Hadley said yesterday.

''He (Maliki) has some strong views on that subject. As you know the Iraqis have been talking to the Syrians. The Iraqis have been talking to the Iranians. Their view is that the future of Iraq, if it is a subject of conversation with Syria and Iran, ought to be a conversation by Iraqis,'' he said.

Hadley described the Jordan meeting as one where the leaders would share ideas but not finalise any plans for a new strategy.

''We're not at the point where the president is going to be able to lay out a comprehensive plan,'' he said.

Hadley also said Bush had telephoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and discussed the importance of supporting the Lebanese government and of ''sending a firm message to Syria that it needs to stop destabilizing that government''.

Many Lebanese blamed Damascus for the assassination last week of Lebanese cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel, the latest in a series of murders of anti-Syrian politicians since Syria was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon last year.

Reuters