Bush set to seek Congress support for Iraq plan

Baghdad, Jan 24: US President George W Bush prepared to urge opponents in Congress today to back sending thousands more troops to Iraq, as the UN envoy in the country said it was ''sliding into the abyss of sectarianism''.

A day after bombers killed 88 people in Baghdad's bloodiest attack this year, gunbattles and a helicopter crash in the city centre kept nerves on edge as Iraqis await the start of Bush's latest plan to clear the capital of Sunni and Shi'ite militants.

He is expected to use his annual State of the Union address in Congress later today to respond to critics of his plan to send some 20,000 reinforcements, notably among his Democrat opponents who now control of both houses of the legislature.

The deaths of two US soldiers were announced today.

taking to 29 the number killed in the past three days, and many in Congress are pressing Bush to start withdrawing troops. More than 3,000 have been killed since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Bush and US commanders say the new security plan for Baghdad will involve more Iraqi forces than a unsuccessful one last year and that this means it has more chance of success.

''There's no question there's a lot of scepticism, both Republicans and Democrats, and the best way to convince them that this makes sense is to implement it and show them that it works,'' Bush told a newspaper this week.

A Washington-Post/ABC News poll gave him a job approval rating of 33 per cent and said 65 per cent of Americans oppose his plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq, up from 61 per cent immediately after his January 10 speech outlining the strategy.

UN envoy Ashraf Qazi condemned the bombings in Iraq, urging political and religious leaders to ''save the country from sliding further into the abyss of sectarianism''.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, from Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim majority, blamed yesterday's bombings on followers of Saddam Hussein, whose botched execution last month angered many among his fellow minority Sunni Arabs.

'Balanced Approach'

The US military said Iraqi and US troops were taking a ''balanced approach'' in attacking Shi'ite and Sunni militant groups -- apparently responding to charges by the once-dominant Sunnis that Maliki's government has failed to crack down on Shi'ite militias loyal to some of his political allies.

Some 600 members of radical young Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army are in custody, the military said.

A US military statement said in the past 45 days, 52 raids targeted the Mehdi Army and 42 were focused on Sunni insurgents.

Maliki has vowed to tackle all militants regardless of sect, in the coming crackdown, which senior Shi'ite allies say may be the last chance to avert a collapse of the new state, which has given Shi'ites the upper hand in Iraq for the first time.

Al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri mocked Bush's plan to send more troops, saying militants could wipe out the entire US army, according to an Internet video posted on Monday.

''Why send 20,000 only? Why not send 50 or 100,000? Aren't you aware that the dogs of Iraq are pining for your troops' dead bodies?'' he said.

Maliki's critics say earlier attempts to stabilise the capital partly failed because of his reluctance to tackle the Mehdi Army.

The Pentagon says the militia has now overtaken Sunni Islamist al Qaeda as the biggest threat to peace in Iraq.

The US statement said US-backed Iraqi forces had detained 16 high-level Mehdi Army militiamen in recent operations, including five in the group's Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City, and killed one commander.

In raids apparently directed at Sunni insurgents today, the US military said it killed 16 guerrillas in and around Baghdad and Anbar province in western Iraq.

The helicopter crash in Baghdad was in an area where clashes were reported but the cause was not immediately clear.

The US military said it appeared to be a civilian aircraft. Some residents said it was fired on before the crash and that they saw four bodies in the wreckage.

A US official who declined to be identified said there were no diplomats aboard. The US embassy said it was checking the status and nationality of those involved.

Twelve US soldiers were killed when a helicopter crashed near Baghdad on Saturday. Some US officials have been quoted as saying it may have been hit by a shoulder-launched missile.

Reuters