US President George W. Bush on Thursday pledged to continue American military operation in Iraq despite the latest videotape threats from al Qaida's second-in- command.

"We will stay the course. We will complete the job in Iraq," Bush told reporters after meeting with his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Ayman al-Zawahri, deputy of al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, said in a videotape shown on Al-Jazeera that the United States and Britain risked losing thousands of lives if they did not pull out of Iraq and end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

"Part of their goal is to drive us out of the broader Middle East," Bush said as he stood alongside Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Speaking to reporters, Uribe said that both he and Bush consider the war against international terrorism a top priority of both their countries.

"The great enemy of Colombian democracy is terrorism...and our great partner in defeating it has been the government and people of the United States," Uribe said.

Uribe also expressed hope that the United States will provide Colombia with more help to fight terrorism and narcotics trafficking.

Colombia has received more than three billion dollars in US aid during the past five years as part of an effort to wipe out cocaine and heroin production and crush the long-running leftist insurgency.

The US State Department announced Wednesday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has certified that Colombia's government and armed forces have met congressional human rights standards to qualify for full funding of U.S. assistance programs.

Bush visited Colombia in November 2004. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also was in Bogota in April.

Source: Xinhua