Thursday, January 27 2005 10:57 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Making a strong plea to Iraqis to vote in Sunday's (Jan 30, 2005) elections, US President George W Bush yesterday (Jan 26, 2005) told them not to be intimidated by terrorist threats on the "grant moment" in the country's history.

Addressing his first White House press conference after assuming office for the second term, Bush said, "We anticipate a lot of Iraqis will vote. Clearly there are some who are intimidated... I urge all people to vote."

Sidestepping questions on when the 150,000 American troops would start to pull out of the war-torn country, he said, "We will complete the mission as quickly as possible. And that mission of a secure and stable Iraq will be achieved when the Iraqis are fighting the former regime elements and people like al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab Zarqawi."

"The enemy would like nothing more than the United States to precipitously pull out and withdraw before the Iraqis are prepared to defend themselves. Their objective is to stop the advance of democracy. Freedom scares them," he also said.

Though the terrorists have declared war against democracy, the elections will go forward, he added. "Over the next year, we will be advancing our plan to make sure the Iraqis are better prepared to defend themselves and to fight."

The press conference was held on a deadly day for US troops in Iraq, with 31 US marines killed in a helicopter crash. "Anytime we lose lives, it is a sad moment," Bush said.

Bush vowed to "constantly remind" Chinese leaders to make progress on human rights and to press Russian President Vladimir Putin on democratic reforms.

"I have, for example, in meetings with the Chinese in the past, brought up the Dalai Lama and concerns of the Catholic Church. I have discussed my belief that a society that welcomes religious freedom is a part of a wholesome society and an important part of a society.

"I have discussed with Vladimir Putin some of his decisions and I will continue to do so. I will remind him that if he intends to continue to look west, we in the West believe in Western values... There won't be instant democracy.

"I will constantly remind them about our strong belief that democracy is the way forward," Bush said.

The President admitted that not every nation is going to immediately adopt America's "vision" of democracy. "I fully understand that. But we expect nations to adopt the values inherent in a democracy, which is human rights and human dignity, that every person matters and every person ought to have a voice."

Bush said that he is looking forward to "reaching out to our friends and allies to convince them of the necessity to continue to work together to help liberate people."

Across the world, freedom has deadly enemies; yet, across the world, freedom has great and growing momentum, he said.

"There have been enormous sacrifices made by some of our citizens in the spread of freedom. Families suffer as a result of the loss of a loved one. We continue to offer our condolences and prayers for those who suffer. We will honour the memories of their loved ones by completing our missions."