Democratic forces succeeding in Iraq - Allawi

Iraqi prime minister Mr Iyad Allawi told the US Congress today the "overwhelming majority" of Iraqis are grateful to the United…

Iraqi prime minister Mr Iyad Allawi told the US Congress today the "overwhelming majority" of Iraqis are grateful to the United States for ousting Saddam Hussein and said democratic forces are succeeding in Iraq .

Recent polls show most Iraqis want US-led occupation forces to leave the country. "Your decision to go to war in Iraq was not an easy one but it was the right one," the interim prime minister told a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives.

In Iraq, we confront both an insurgency and the global war on terror, with their destructive forces sometimes overlapping," Mr Allawi said. "I can tell you today they will not succeed."

Mr Allawi was in Washington as Iraq faces a widespread insurgency before elections scheduled for January, and after a series of kidnappings and grisly beheadings of hostages.