Bush cool to asking Iran, Syria to help on Iraq

UNITED STATES: President George W. Bush, searching for a new approach in Iraq, expressed little enthusiasm on Monday for seeking Syrian and Iranian help to calm Iraq as he cautioned Democrats against quick U.S. troop reductions.

Bush, who has stated a need for "fresh perspectives" on Iraq after his Republican Party received a drubbing in last week's congressional elections, met at the White House with the Iraq Study Group, whose report in a month could offer him a change of course in Iraq.

Engaging Syria and Iran on Iraq is an idea thought to be under discussion by the panel, and is a strategy promoted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a staunch Bush ally.

Unrelenting violence in Iraq has added to the pressure on Bush as Baghdad reported that the bodies of 46 people had been recovered. A suicide bomb killed 11 Iraqis on a minibus and at least nine American and British troops were reported killed in the previous two days.

The violence, which underlined Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's problems trying to curb the bloodshed, followed attacks that killed more than 100 people Sunday including a suicide attack on police recruits that killed 35 in Baghdad.

In London, Blair challenged Syria and Iran to be engaged in efforts to stem violence in Iraq and to secure a broader Middle East peace settlement.

In an annual foreign policy speech, Blair suggested a "new partnership" was possible with Damascus and Tehran that included making clear how they can help in the region while warning them of the consequences of hindering peace. But Bush told reporters at the White House that Syria must get out of Lebanon and Iran should abandon its nuclear ambitions.

He pointed out that the United States had offered direct talks with Iran about its nuclear ambitions if Tehran would agree to stop uranium enrichment, though Iran has refused.Blair is expected to give his views on Iraq via video conference on Tuesday to the Iraq Study Group, led by former Secretary of State James Baker, a Republican with close ties to the Bush family, and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana.

Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who will chair the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he had spoken to Republicans and thought there would be bipartisan support for a resolution urging a change of course in Iraq.

Washington, Tuesday, Reuters.