US President George W. Bush declared on Thursday that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" and US and allies "have prevailed" in Iraq.
Bush made the announcement in his speech from on board the homebound USS Abraham Lincoln nuclear aircraft carrier. It comes some six weeks after Bush announced the beginning of the war in Iraq in an Oval Office speech on March 19.
"In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world," Bush said.
"The Battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September 11th, 2001, and still goes on," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency, May 1, 2003)
