U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged the world to financially help the fledgling Iraqi government to succeed.

"Earlier, the international community pledged about 13 billion dollars to help this new government, and they've only paid about 3 billion dollars. And so we're going to help encourage those who've made a pledge to pay up to help the new government succeed," Bush said at a press conference in the White House.

Bush said he would designate Deputy Treasury Secretary Bob Kimmitt to lead the efforts on behalf of the United States.

"He'll be supported by State Department Counselor Phil Zelikow and other senior officials. And they will soon travel to the United Nations and then to Baghdad for consultations. And then they're going to travel across Europe and Asia and the Middle East to discuss the compact and secure support from governments for this new government," he said.

Bush added that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was working to develop "an international compact," under which Iraq would take a series of steps in the political, economic and security areas, and then the international community would provide more robust political and economic support.

Bush has vowed that U.S. troops will not leave Iraq until the new Iraqi government can sustain and defend itself.

Source: Xinhua