US President George W. Bush Tuesday consulted through telephone with leaders of Australia, Britain and Denmark over the Iraq issue one day before he announces his new Iraq strategy, the White House said.

Bush thanked the three nations for their continued strong support of coalition efforts in Iraq, and discussed the outcome of the recently completed Iraq strategy review with the prime ministers of the three countries, said national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

These countries have combat units serving with multinational forces in Iraq and have been key partners since the formation of the coalition, Johndroe said.

Bush is due to address Americans on his new Iraqi plan on Wednesday at 9 PM EST (02:00 GMT) from the White House.

Britain is Washington's closest ally in the three-year Iraq war and stations the second largest number of troops in the country following the United States.

Australia sent 2,000 troops to back US and British forces in the Iraqi invasion in 2003, and still maintains hundreds of soldiers in Iraq.

Denmark has about 530 troops in Iraq supporting the US-led coalition and another 360 in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led force.

Meanwhile, six out of 10 Americans oppose the idea of increased US troop levels in Iraq, according to a new poll published on Tuesday.

The poll, taken by USA Today/Gallup Poll Friday through Sunday, found that 61 percent of those surveyed opposed the idea of sending additional troops to Iraq, and only 36 percent approved of the proposal.

Only 26 percent of those surveyed, a record low, approved of Bush's handling of Iraq, according to the poll of 1,004 adults that had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

The president's overall job approval rating was 37 percent, up 2 percentage points from mid-December.

Nearly half of those surveyed said the United States could not achieve its goals in Iraq regardless of how many troops it sends, while one in four said US goals could be achieved only with an increase in troop numbers.

By 72 percent - 25 percent, Americans said Bush did not have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, according to the poll.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2007)