WASHINGTON, April 10: US President George W. Bush, while defending his decision to halt withdrawal of troops from Iraq after July, said on Thursday that the US disengagement from the Arab country would strengthen Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

“The Taliban in Afghanistan and Al Qaeda in Pakistan would grow in confidence and boldness,” warned Mr Bush who halted major troop withdrawals but cut the length of tours of duty for American soldiers. “And violent extremists around the world would draw the same dangerous lesson that they did from our retreats in Somalia and Vietnam.”

In a speech timed to the fifth anniversary of the ‘fall’ of Baghdad, Mr Bush said: “It is clear that we’re on the right track,” the US president said, a declaration that was immediately derided by Democratic leaders.

“American taxpayers are spending $12 billion each month in Iraq at the expense of priorities here at home,” noted Senator Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader. “Today’s announcement by the president can only be described as one step forward, two steps back.”

Senator Barack Obama, a leading Democratic candidate for the 2008 presidential election, sought an immediate end to the war.

“This war should be coming to an end, but President Bush announced today that he was going to put a pause on the withdrawal,” Mr Obama said. “So we are going to have 140,000 troops — it’s estimated that we will have at least 140,000 troops there until the end of the year. In other words, there is no end in sight under the Bush policy.”

But Mr Bush defended his decision, saying that US forces have made major gains since he ordered a build-up of about 30,000 US forces last year.

“None of our operations in Iraq will be on hold. Instead we will use the months ahead to take advantage of the opportunities created by the surge and continue operations across the board.” Acknowledging that “serious and complex problems remain in Iraq,” he said “a major strategic shift” had occurred since the build-up. “Today we have the initiative.”