WASHINGTON, Sept 7: President George Bush will tell his nation that the war against terror is not over yet when he addresses them from the White House on Sunday night, his aides said.

The president will also give an update on the war on terror and urge the Americans not to be impatient on Iraq, his two senior aides told television talk shows on Sunday.

“The president is going to tell the American people tonight that we are still in the midst of the war on terrorism, that Iraq is a central battle in the war on terrorism,” Condoleezza Rice said on Fox News on Sunday. “And the war on terrorism is against people who are against freedom and against civilization.”

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the president will address “needs for going forward” in Iraq, but did not say if it would also include a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from that country.

Mr Bush likely will also touch on the US draft resolution urging other nations to send their troops to help boost security in Iraq.

Ms Rice said that Mr Bush believes a resolution will provide much-needed political cover for some countries, particularly Muslim nations, to contribute to the effort in Iraq.

But Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the senior democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a frequent critic of the Bush administration, said the president has some explaining to do.

“I hope that the president tonight will explain why the long delay in going to the UN when it’s been so obvious to our commanders and to others that we need troops from other nations,” Sen Levin told Fox News.

Mr Bush likely will also discuss the installation of cabinet members on the new Iraqi Governing Council, which US authorities say is a key step toward putting Iraq on the road to democracy.