ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) said Sunday that progress had been made in the hunt for alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (news - web sites) and that nations should now focus on rebuilding the country.
"We've discovered a weapons system -- biological labs that Iraq denied she had and labs that were prohibited under the U.N. resolutions," Bush told reporters after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites).
"My opinion is that we must work together to improve the lives of the Iraqi citizens, that we must cooperate closely to make sure that the Iraqi infrastructure is in place so that Iraqi citizens can live decently," Bush said.
The United States Friday announced a major expansion of so-far fruitless efforts to find chemical and biological arms in Iraq, forming a team of 1,400 U.S., British and Australian experts to take up the hunt.
The move came amid widespread international cynicism about the motives for the war on Iraq as no banned weapons have been found.
The U.S. move was announced just hours after Lt. Gen. James Conway, the top U.S. Marine officer in Iraq, said U.S. intelligence was "simply wrong" in leading the military to believe that the invading troops were likely to be attacked with chemical weapons.
The controversy has also been fueled by comments from the two top U.S. defense officials that the American decision to stress the weapons' threat was taken for "bureaucratic" reasons and that Iraq may have anyway destroyed them before the war.
Bush was noncommittal about Russia's future role in the Iraqi oil sector.
"Russia has had a long history of involvement in Iraq, and the Iraqi authorities, when they are firmly in place, will make the decision based upon that experience and based upon their country's best interests," Bush said.