US President George W. Bush announced here on Thursday his five-step plan for reconstruction of Iraq, saying to help Iraq conduct national elections no later than next January is "the most important step."

Addressing a joint press conference with visiting Iraqi interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, Bush said the "first step was achieved on June 28, not only on time but ahead of schedule, when the coalition transferred full sovereignty to a government of Iraqi citizens."

The second step is to help Iraq's new government establish stability and security, Bush said, noting Iraqi security forces must be able to take increasing responsibility for their country's security.

Nearly 100,000 Iraqi people have been trained to be soldiers, police officers and other security personnel, and that total will rise to 125,000 by the end of this year, Bush said.

The Iraqi government is on track to build a force of over 200,000 security personnel by the end of next year, he added.

As for the third step, Bush said that the United States will help Iraq improve infrastructure in the country.

Having spending over one billion dollars on urgent reconstruction projects, Bush said, the United States will earmark in the next several months over 9 billion dollars to help Iraqis rebuild schools, refurbish hospitals and health clinics, repair bridges, upgrade the electricity grid, and modernize the communications system.

The fourth step in his plan is to enlist additional international support for Iraq's transition to democracy.

The fifth is to "help Iraq conduct free, national elections no later than next January," which Bush described as the most important step in US plan concerning Iraqi reconstruction.

Iraq's interim prime minister Allawi reiterated here on Thursday to hold national elections scheduled for January. He said that the security situation in 15 out of 18 Iraqi provinces is good for elections.

Allawi rejected the predictions that the elections will be delayed due to rampant insurgence violence in the country when he addressed a joint session of the US Congress.

Source: Xinhua