WASHINGTON, Jan 11: President George Bush vowed on Wednesday to boost defence measures in the Middle East to promote stability throughout the region. In his speech, Mr Bush said he had ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group and Patriot anti-missile systems in the Middle East to beef up regional security.

He warned Middle East nations that an American defeat in Iraq would create a `new sanctuary for extremists’ and be `a strategic threat to their survival’. As he ordered more than 20,000 additional troops into Iraq and unveiled a last-ditch 6.8 billion dollar plan to curb chaos, Mr Bush said a key to the success of his new strategy was cutting off Iranian and Syrian support to `terrorists’ in Iraq.

“These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq,” Mr Bush said in a prime time television address to an American public fed up with the nearly four-year war.

He accused Iran of providing material support for attacks on American troops and vowed to disrupt these raids.

“We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq,” he said.

The US leader also announced other steps to bolster the security of Iraq and protect American interests in the Middle East.

“I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region. We will expand intelligence sharing -- and deploy Patriot air defence systems to reassure our friends and allies,” he said.

The United States has rapidly upgraded the capability of the Patriot systems which provide air and missile defence following their relatively little success in the first Gulf War.—AFP