The White House on Tuesday denied that it had a hand in crafting Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's speech to the US Congress last Thursday.

When asked if any US officials had a hand in crafting Allawi's speech to the Congress, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said:" None that I know of."

"I mean, those were obviously Prime Minister Allawi's words when he talked about the progress that is being made, but he also talked about the ongoing security challenges," McClellan said.

When asked if Allawi's speech was done through the US embassy in Baghdad, McClellan said:" I do not know."

The doubt arose after the Washington Post on Tuesday did a line-by-line juxtaposition of Allawi's September 23 speech with very similar previous remarks by US President George W. Bush.

In a report titled as "Couldn't have said it any better himself," the Washington Post said foreign policy devotees have been searching for the ghostwriter of the Allawi speech, which sounded curiously familiar to American ears.

Although the White House denied anybody in the administration did it, "but those searching for a ghostwriter of the Allawi speech may be overthinking things. May be the prime minister simply went to the White House web site and combed through some ofPresident Bush's speeches," the Washington Post report said.

Source: Xinhua