In a New Year's Day message to the American people, Bush described the past year as "a time of accomplishment and progress."

"Working together, our citizens have made America a safer, more prosperous, and better country," he said. "In the New Year, we will build on these successes, embracing the challenges and opportunities ahead."

He said Americans were praying for the safety for US troops deployed overseas and were grateful for their service. "We have seen our brave men and women in uniform defend America and liberate the oppressed," Bush said.

The president said Americans from every walk of life were fostering a culture of compassion by devoting their time and talents to helping others.

"In the New Year, I ask all Americans to answer the call to bring hope to those who are less fortunate," Bush said.

Meanwhile, with the war on terrorism still its top priority, the United States in 2004 will strive to expand peace, freedom and prosperity across the world, US Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote yesterday in The New York Times.

Powell said Washington in 2004 would continue working to restore sovereignty in Afghanistan and Iraq, relying on the international community and the United Nations "to help Iraqis establish a new citadel of free minds and free markets in the Middle East.

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The United States, Powell said, "will open an embassy in Baghdad" when the Coalition Provisional Authority comes to an end on June 30, according to the November 15 transition plan.

The Middle East Partnership Initiative will be expanded, he added, "to encourage political, economic and educational reform throughout the region."

Along with the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, Powell said, "we will help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace, so that a free Palestine will exist alongside a secure and democratic Jewish state in Israel."

"With China, Japan, Russia and South Korea we will continue to tackle the problem of North Korea's dangerous nuclear weapons program," Powell said, while cautioning that "we will not reward threats from Pyongyang or provide incentive for blackmail."

The secretary of state said Libya's renunciation of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction was the result of "bold British and American diplomacy," adding that Iran had also felt "our sustained pressure ... to come clean on its nuclear weapons program, and has begun to do so."