WASHINGTON, July 14: In the clearest sign yet of Republican anxiety over Iraq, two elder statesmen of the party have urged President George W. Bush to begin pulling US troops out of the sectarian cross-fire by the end of the current year.

A new blueprint by Senators Richard Lugar and John Warner was similar to plans from anti-war Democrats to yank soldiers out of the cauldron, with an important difference — it did not include a hard date for troop withdrawals to be completed.

Senators Lugar and Warner released their plan on Friday, a day after President Bush rejected any changes to the war plan until United States commander in Iraq Gen David Petraeus gave a definitive report on his troop ‘surge’ strategy within two months.

“We are attempting to ensure that US military and diplomatic policy is prepared for change when the Petraeus report arrives in September,” Mr Lugar said.

“We are hopeful that regardless of where senators stand on surge versus withdrawal, they will find our amendment to be a constructive bipartisan attempt to prepare for whatever policy follows in the coming months.” The plan also calls on Congress to reauthorise President Bush to conduct military operations in Iraq, and to replace the 2002 authority he was granted by lawmakers which became the basis of the invasion in 2003.

The Lugar-Warner amendment, which appears designed to unite those Republicans who have broken with Bush on the war with anti-war Democrats, calls for a new plan narrowing the mission of US troops in Iraq to be delivered to Congress by Oct 16.

The president should be ready to start carrying out the new approach by the end of the year, the amendment to a defence policy bill being debated in the Senate said.

It called for US troops to be transitioned from “policing the civil strife or sectarian violence in Iraq” and their redeployment as “conditions permit”. US forces should then be focused on securing Iraq’s borders, denying a safe haven to ‘terrorists’, battling Al Qaeda and training and equipping Iraqi forces.

Meanwhile, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Iraq’s lawmakers would take a summer break despite their bad report card from Washington.

Top US officials, including Vice-President Dick Cheney, have tried to persuade lawmakers to stay at work, conscious of claims in Washington that Iraqis are doing little to forge peace while US troops are dying in their country.

President Bush poured praise on US reconstruction teams working to restore services in Iraq.

“What happens in Iraq matters to the United States of America. A violent, chaotic Iraq will affect our security at home,” he said.

The president also summoned a phalanx of conservative columnists who support the war for a group interview at the White House on why his approach deserved more time.

But The New York Times said in an editorial: “Bush is still trying to twist reality to claim that his failed effort is worth sticking with.” Around a handful of Republican senators have publicly expressed dissatisfaction with President Bush’s refusal to change course in Iraq, though some, like Senator Lugar, have said they are not yet ready to vote with Democrats on anti-war measures.—AFP