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US will crush Saddam regime elements: Bush

WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush insisted on Tuesday that coalition forces would pursue the war in Iraq until every element of the Saddam Hussein regime is crushed.

“Our victory in Iraq is certain, but it is not complete,” Mr Bush said, adding a warning that the United States still feels threatened from international terrorists and weapons of mass destruction.

“Centralized power of the dictator is ended, yet in parts of Iraq, desperate and dangerous elements remain. Forces of our coalition will engage these enemies until they surrender or until they’re destroyed,” the American president said in a speech at the White House.

He said that with the fall of Mr Hussein’s regime “the world is safer. The terrorists have lost an ally. The Iraqi people are regaining control of their own destiny.”

Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac and Mr Bush spoke for the first time in two months on Tuesday. The 20-minute telephone conversation came at Mr Chirac’s initiative, with his spokesman Catherine Colonna calling it a “positive” exchange.

The French president told his US counterpart of “France’s willingness to act in a pragmatic way” on issues relating to the post-war reconstruction of Iraq, Ms Colonna said.

Mr Chirac listed disarmament, the issue of sanctions, the shape of an interim government for Iraq and the country’s oil resources as the key questions on the table, the spokeswoman said, adding that Mr Bush had thanked Mr Chirac “for this conversation and for this approach.”

With respect to US threats to Syria, Mr Chirac apparently said he hoped that nothing would raise tensions in the region. The US president asked Congress on Tuesday to pass a $550 billion tax cut, less than he earlier sought, as he shifted focus from the war in Iraq to salvaging his economic agenda before next year’s re-election campaign. —AFP/Reuters

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