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The US ambassador in Baghdad said on Wednesday President George W. Bush would work with Democrats to achieve success in Iraq, but Iraqis were doubtful Democrat election gains would bring any respite from violence.
Seeking to reassure Iraqi leaders there would be no major policy change after Bush's Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives, envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said: "The president is the architect of US foreign policy."
Iraqi leaders say they need more US help to quell mounting sectarian violence, although polls suggest most Iraqis would like to see foreign troops leave soon.
"He (Bush) is the commander in chief of our armed forces. He understands what's at stake in Iraq," Khalilzad said, in the first public comments by a senior US official on Iraq since Tuesday's vote.
"He is committed to working with both houses of the American Congress to get support needed for the mission in Iraq to succeed," he told a reception attended by government officials, Iraqi legislators and embassy personnel.
Upset over a war that has caused the deaths of at least 2,839 US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis since the US-led invasion in 2003 to remove Saddam Hussein, US voters gave the Democrats a huge victory in the House. Democrats were also on the verge of capturing the Senate, pending late results.
Some Democrats celebrated their election gains as a "victory for the American people" but Iraqis tired of living with the daily threat of death squads and car bombs said they doubted any US party could repair their wrecked country. "The Americans have ruined everything and the only solution is to let Iraqis deal with this mess," said Mohamed Husni, 24.
Abdullah, a 28-year-old computing student, agreed: "Iraq is long ruined and American policy is fixed, whichever party takes control of Congress. If the Democrats can finally bring us some security they are welcome, but I believe no one can succeed."
MALIKI: NO MAJOR CHANGE: The US military announced the deaths of one soldier and one marine on Wednesday. Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has clashed with Washington over perceived pressure from US officials to meet benchmarks of progress, said in an interview he did not believe Tuesday's election would lead to a change in US policy on Iraq.
Maliki, struggling to contain sectarian violence and a raging Sunni Arab insurgency, has announced he plans to ask for an extension of a United Nations mandate authorising the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.
"I understand that America will always work for America's interest in its foreign policy. The relationship will not experience any major or dramatic change if new opinions surface after the elections," he said in an interview with the BBC filmed on Tuesday before the US election was over.
Bush, who has said he will consider changes in tactics but not strategy in Iraq, still has broad constitutional leeway in foreign affairs in the two years he has left in office.
The Democrats' control of the House means they will have more influence, increasing pressure for an exit strategy. Maliki also told the BBC Saddam could be hanged before the end of the year, putting political pressure on an appeals court reviewing the ousted leader's death sentence.
Saddam was sentenced on Sunday by an Iraqi court to hang for crimes against humanity for the killings and torture of hundreds of Shias. Legal experts and officials close to the US- backed court have said it could be months before he is executed.
Comments by Maliki in the past that Saddam's hanging could not come soon enough drew complaints of government pressure and the verdict divided Iraqis, largely on sectarian lines. Maliki said on Wednesday he had met the families of some victims of Saddam and vowed he would take a tough line against those still loyal to Saddam's former Baath Party.
"The battle with terrorism is an extension of our battle with the Baath Party," he said in a statement that took a firm line the day after news that a committee set up by US authorities to purge former Baath Party officials from public life will recommend allowing most back to their jobs.

Copyright Reuters, 2006

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