U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday denounced ongoing sectarian violence in Iraq, warning that Iraqis are facing choice of either chao or unity.

Speaking to reporters after talks with visiting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the White House, Bush said for Iraqis "the choice is chaos or unity."

Bush, who telephoned seven Iraqi leaders on Saturday, told reporters that Iraqi leaders had assured him they would seek to overcome deadly sectarian violence.

Horrible attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last weeks's bombing of a Shite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, said reports reaching here from Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.

Source: Xinhua