US President George W. Bush said on Monday that Iraqis will face many challenges after a permanent government is formed under their new constitution.

"Once the new Iraqi government assumes office, Iraq's new leaders will face many important decisions on issues such as security and reconstruction, economic reform and national unity," Bush said at a year-end White House news conference.

"The work ahead will require the patience of the Iraqi people and the patience and support of America and our coalition partners, " Bush noted.

Speaking highly of Iraq's parliamentary elections, Bush also reiterated that the success of election does not mean the end of violence.

"We will keep working toward our goal of a democratic Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself. Our mission in Iraq is critical to victory in the global war on terror," he said.

Bush made the remarks just a day after he made a rare TV address from the Oval Office in which he called for patience and said that the United States is winning the war in Iraq.

"There is more testing and sacrifice before us," Bush acknowledged publicly in his Sunday address for the first time since the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003. "Have patience in this difficult, noble and necessary cause."

As of mid-December, US death toll in Iraq has risen to 2,156.

Source: Xinhua