Bush, Allawi Warn Of Worse Unrest In Iraq As Elections Loom

WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush cautioned Thursday against showing weakness at a "decisive moment" in Iraq as he and visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned of worsening violence there ahead of elections scheduled for January.
The two leaders presented a unified front in the White House Rose Garden as they sought to soothe US worries just six weeks before the November 2 US presidential election while battling critics who have accused them of unrealistic optimism.
"Terrorist violence may well escalate as the January elections draw near," said Bush, whose credibility on Iraq has been attacked by Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry but also by some fellow Republicans.
Allawi was adamant that the crucial vote would be held on time and that progess was being made in Iraq where US military fatalities and Iraqi casualties continue to mount daily.
The interim Iraqi leader told a rare joint session of the US Congress: "We are succeeding in Iraq. It's a tough struggle with setbacks, but we are succeeding.
"My friends, today we are better off. You are better off. And the world is better off without Saddam Hussein," Allawi said. "Your decision to go to war in Iraq was not an easy one but it was the right one."
Democratic presidential challenger Kerry said Allawi was painting an unrealistically rosy picture of the situation in his homeland.
"I think the prime minister is obviously contradicting his own statement of a few days ago where he said the terrorists are pouring into the country," Kerry said.
General John Abizaid, the head of US Central Command, told reporters Wednesday that more troops would be needed to secure Iraq ahead of elections, but Bush said Abizaid had not requested more soldiers when the two met at the White House on Thursday.
"If our commanders on the ground feel it's in the interest of the Iraq citizens to provide more troops, we'll talk about it," said Bush. "If he were to say that, I'd listen to him."
However, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged more US troops may have to be sent to Iraq to provide security for the January elections.
Washington is counting on Iraqi security forces to fill the gap, but both Abizaid and Rumsfeld admitted that the 140,000-member US force in Iraq may have to be beefed up at least temporarily.
"In the event General Abizaid decides he needs more forces to assist in the elections, like he has for example in Afghanistan, he'll ask and he'll get it," Rumsfeld said.
Meanwhile Iraq and Britain stood firm and ruled out any negotiation with the Al-Qaeda-linked group holding Kenneth Bigley, ignoring the pleas of the family of the engineer whose two US colleagues were beheaded this week.
In an apparent bid to influence British public opinion, the Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War) group of Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, posted on a website a video of Bigley begging Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair to meet the kidnappers' demands.
"I need you (Blair) to be compassionate as you always said you were... I don't want to die... Please, please release the female prisoners that are held in Iraqi prisons," he said, breaking into tears.
The extremist organisation, which has already savagely executed several other foreigners and carried out dozens of deadly suicide bombings over the past year, has demanded that all women detained by the coalition in Iraq be freed.
The Al-Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for a series of car bombings against US and Iraqi targets in Baghdad this week.
The US military announced another marine had been killed in clashes Wednesday in the restive western province of Al-Anbar.
More than 1,000 US soldiers and thousands of Iraqis have been killed since the US-led invasion in March 2003.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ruled out Thursday sending troops to Iraq, despite requests from the United States and Iraq's interim government.
"As far as Iraq is concerned, our domestic environment is not conducive" to sending troops, Musharraf said.
Canada meanwhile reiterated a warning to its citizens not to travel to Iraq, and urged Canadians currently in the country to leave two days after a Canadian woman held hostage there gained her freedom.
And in a visit to London, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev criticised the US-led invasion of Iraq calling it a "big mistake."
In a thinly veiled attack on Kerry, whom Bush has accused of sending "mixed messages" on Iraq, the US President and Allawi warned that criticism of the campaign there could embolden terrorists and dishearten US forces.
"The president says that things are getting better in Iraq and we must just stay the same course," Kerry said during a campaign stop in Columbus, Ohio.
"Well, I disagree. They're not getting better and we need to change the course to protect our troops and to win," Kerry added.