BAGHDAD, June 14: Iraq’s prime minister launched a security crackdown against Al Qaeda in Baghdad on Wednesday but extended an olive branch to Sunni militants who want to join the political process in a twin strategy to ease violence.

Backed by tanks and armoured vehicles, about 50,000 Iraqi security forces and 7,200 US-led troops were deployed across Baghdad, setting up checkpoints and patrolling streets in the strife-torn capital, officials said.

In Adhamiya, a stronghold of Sunni militants, gunmen armed with automatic rifles blocked roads and exchanged fire with Iraqi soldiers before Iraqi army tanks rumbled through the area to restore order, a report said.

In northern Baghdad, a car bomb targeting a police patrol killed two people and wounded seven others.

US President George W. Bush, a day after his surprise visit to Baghdad in which he told Iraq’s new leader Nuri Al Maliki that the fate of Iraq was in his hands, said he was confident Mr Maliki will deliver.

Mr Bush also said it would be unrealistic to hope for “zero violence” soon. “He’s got a plan to succeed,” Mr Bush said of Mr Maliki, adding that “success in Iraq depends upon the Iraqis”.

Facing sagging public support for warin Iraq, Mr Bush was cautious about prospects for reducing 130,000 American troops. He reiterated that US forces could start coming home after Iraqi forces took over.

CALL FOR DIALOGUE: As the crackdown got under way, Mr Maliki told a televised conference he was ready to talk to insurgents who do not have Iraqi blood on their hands.