WASHINGTON, Oct 28: The missing explosives in Iraq and the news that the Bush administration is seeking more money for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have given a slight lead to Democratic candidate John F. Kerry over President George W. Bush.

At least two major surveys on Wednesday -- by the Washington Post and Rasmussen group -- put Mr Kerry two points ahead of Mr Bush six days before the election. The Los Angeles Times had the race even. Earlier this week, before the news of the missing explosives broke, the Zogby International gave Mr Bush a three-point edge at 49-46 per cent.

The TIPP polling organization showed his lead widening in the last three days to eight points at 50-42 per cent and Gallup placed it at 51-46 per cent. Aware of the potentially negative impact of the missing explosives on the American voters, Mr Kerry continued to attack Mr Bush for allowing this to happen. President Bush's supporters, however, accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of trying to influence the US election by releasing a letter about the missing explosives so close to the election.

"In a close contest like this, the story easily could sway voters," said Clifford May, president of the pro-Republican Foundation for the Defence of Democracies. "The anti-American (IAEA chief) Mohammed ElBradei, leaked a false letter to the media on this issue to embarrass the Bush administration," he said. Mr Kerry, however, demanded an explanation from Mr Bush. "What did the president have to say about the missing explosives?

Not a word. Complete silence," said Mr Kerry after President Bush declined to publicly mention the controversy in campaign appearances. "George Bush ... failed to secure Iraq and keep it from becoming what it is today - a haven for terrorists." While Mr Bush avoided the controversy over the disappearance of 350 tonnes of high explosives in Iraq, his Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld downplayed the IAEA report. "It is not at all clear that those explosives were even at the weapons facility when our troops arrived in the area of Baghdad. John Kerry doesn't mention that," Mr Cheney said at a rally in Pensacola, Florida.

Mr Rumsfeld said the US military had destroyed over 240,000 tonnes of weapons and captured another 160,000 tonnes in Iraq, and said he believed the missing explosives could still be located. Ignoring the demand for an explanation, Mr Bush shifted his focus from national security to economic policies. "To pay for all his new spending he's proposed, my opponent will have to raise taxes not just on small-business owners, but on everyone who's ever worked for a small business, shopped at a small business or walked by a small business," he said.