President Bush promised to send more American soldiers to shore up the failing attempt to bring order to the streets of Baghdad today.

Speaking at the White House alongside the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who is under pressure to show that his Government can wrest Baghdad from the hands of sectarian militias and death squads, Mr Bush said that additional US troops would be put on the streets.

"Our strategy is to remain on the offence, including Baghdad," said Mr Bush as he reaffirmed his support for Mr al-Maliki, the leader of Iraq's Government of national unity, who launched his failed security plan on the that day the US President paid a surprise visit to the city in June.

Six weeks into "Operation Forward Together", which has taken the shape of heavily-armed joint US-Iraqi patrols and a series of curfews, Baghdad remains torn by non-stop sectarian killings that have brought about a de facto separation of the city into Sunni and Shia communities.

Last week, the US military recorded a daily average of 34 bombing and shooting attacks in the Iraqi capital, up from the daily average of 24 attacks a month ago. An estimated 100 Iraqi civilians die in Baghdad every day despite the presence of 50,000 soldiers.

Adding to the strain on Mr al-Maliki's government, the Shia leader of the influential Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI), Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, today called on Iraqis to create their own "people’s committees" to defend themselves against Sunni attacks.

Mr Bush said that the extra American troops would be brought from other areas of the country and put to work securing individual neighbourhoods, which would then be reinforced by a permanent Iraqi security presence. More US military police will also be embedded in Iraqi units.

"Our military commanders tell me that this deployment will better reflect the current conditions on the ground in Iraq," he said.

The President did not give specific troop numbers, but unnamed Pentagon officials have told the Associated Press that as many as 1,000 American soldiers might be sent to the capital, which is seen the decisive battleground in the fight between the new Iraqi government and the extremists on both sides of the sectarian divide that are driving the country to civil war.

Between 500 and 1,000 extra US military police officers have already been deployed in the city in recent weeks. Around 30,000 American troops are already based in Baghdad.

After speculation that the White House had lost its confidence in Mr al-Maliki, a compromise candidate put forward to reconcile Iraq's divided politicians, Mr Bush was keen to stress his support for Iraq's first directly elected government.

"He comes wondering whether or not we are committed. He hears all kinds of things coming out of the United States," Mr Bush said. "And I assured him that this Government stands by the Iraqi people."

Both leaders spoke about the ongoing conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah — Mr Bush described his conversation with Mr al-Maliki on the subject as "a frank exchange of views" — with the American President repeating Condoleezza Rice's demand for a "sustainable ceasefire".

Mr al-Maliki, who has attracted sharp criticism from Democratic senators and congressmen for describing Israel's bombing of Lebanon as "criminal", said that it was time for an immediate cessation of hostilities:

"I also emphasised the importance of immediate ceasefire and call on international community to support the Lebanese Government, to support the Lebanese people to overcome the damage and destruction that happened," he said.

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