Bush visits Estonia, blasts al-Qaida

TALINN, Estonia, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush became the first U.S. leader to visit Estonia Tuesday, where he blamed the al-Qaida terror group for Iraq's sectarian violence.

Bush made the stop in Talinn en route to a NATO summit in neighboring Latvia where Afghanistan is the top item on the agenda, the BBC said.

Speaking at a news conference with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Bush said last week's deadly attacks in a suburb of Baghdad that killed more than 200 people were the hallmark of al-Qaida and its quest to foment further violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

With regard to the NATO summit, Bush indicated he would push for member countries to accept more combat roles in Afghanistan, saying "members must accept difficult assignments if we expect to be successful" in routing Taliban militants.

After the news conference, Bush and his entourage took off for Riga for the summit.