WASHINGTON, Sept 18: Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry is accusing President George Bush of hiding plans to call up large numbers of reservists for active duty in Iraq until after the Nov 2 elections.

The charge came after a top Kerry aide disclosed a change in the campaign's tactics - a decision to hammer away on Iraq after earlier vowing to keep the focus on the economy.

And it came amid conflicting poll data, with two surveys showing Mr Kerry pulling even with Bush and others showing the president maintaining a healthy lead.

"He won't tell us that day-by-day we're running out of soldiers and that we're now resorting to a backdoor draft from our reservists and our National Guard," the Democratic candidate said of Bush during a campaign stop in Albuquerque on Friday.

"He won't tell us what congressional leaders are saying - that this administration is planning another substantial call-up of reservists and guard units immediately after the election," he said.

Representative John Murtha, a Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, earlier said he had learned from Pentagon officials of plans to call up large numbers of military guards and reserves, including members of the rarely activated "individual ready reserves".

Mr Kerry also attacked Vice President Dick Cheney and his old company Halliburton for alleged "cronyism" that reaped billions of dollars of business in Iraq.

In a statement and a new television spot Kerry said Cheney, who was chief executive officer of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, received nearly two million dollars from the company since becoming vice president despite his contention he severed all financial ties.

Bush campaign officials acknowledged Cheney established a package of deferred compensation from Halliburton in 1998, but disputed the two million dollar figure. They also said he took steps to divorce it from whether the firm made money.-AFP