The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the United States must also cede some of its authority in Iraq to the United Nations.

"Moscow is convinced that the latest sharp escalation of violence confirms the need for the immediate creation of national government agencies, which with the active support of the international community - first of all the United Nations - can take responsibility for security in the country," it said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Reacting to a string of deadly blasts in Baghdad, Bush - on welcoming his special envoy to Iraq Paul Bremer - said, “We will stay the course".

"The more successful we are on the ground, the more these killers will react," Bush said.

Bush stressed that "the vast majority" of Iraqis were opposed to what he termed “terrorists”.

"These people will kill Iraqis. The don't care who they kill, they just want to kill, and we will find them," Bush pledged.

"There's a handful of people who don't want (Iraqis) to live in freedom," adding that do not support the reconstruction, including the restoration of electricity and oil production or the rebuilding of schools.

"They'll do whatever it takes to stop this progress. And our job is to work with the Iraqis to prevent this from happening."

The five deadly blasts that killed 34 people and wounded over 200 others drew condemnation from world leaders, in what is seen as the boldest challenge yet to U.S.-led efforts to bring security to post-war Iraq.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the humanitarian agency whose Baghdad headquarters was one of the targets of the suicide attacks, warned that it would reassess working conditions in the capital.

Britain led a chorus of outrage among staunch U.S. allies but vowed there would be no backing down from the drive to rebuild and restore stability to oil-rich Iraq, where U.S.-led forces come under almost daily attack.

Four Baghdad police stations were also hit Monday, as Muslims in Iraq and around the world began marking the festival of Ramadan, and Iraqi police said they narrowly thwarted a fifth attack.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair "utterly condemns these evil and wicked attacks," his spokesman said.

"The terrorists and criminals responsible for them are obviously the enemies of the Iraqi people inasmuch as they are deliberately targeting those organizations who are helping to build towards a free and stable Iraq.

"But that work will continue," Blair's spokesman said.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the fact that "terrorists" hit an organization working in Iraq "solely for humanitarian relief shows the depth of depravity to which they stoop."

The United Nations said the attack on the Red Cross offices was aimed at driving foreigners - even aid workers - out of Iraq.

"We are very shocked by this terrorist attack because the target of the attack was the very symbol of humanitarian aid in Iraq," said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"It means that one of the interests of these people is to expel every foreigner," she said.

The ICRC itself condemned the bombing at its offices that left at least 12 people dead, including two local staff, and 22 wounded, with spokesman Florian Westphal saying such attacks flew in the face of "the most basic principles of humanity".

Westphal said the ICRC, present in Iraq for two decades of tension and war, would review the situation over the next few days but stressed it was "not reassessing our presence, but reassessing our activities."

“There is now more than ever an urgent need for the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty,” France

Monday's blasts came on the heels of several attacks on U.S. targets Sunday, including a rocket barrage on a Baghdad hotel housing one of Washington's main hawks, visiting U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell conceded Sunday he had been surprised by the intensity of the attacks.

The Madrid conference raised 33 billion dollars - including 20 billion from Washington - but fell short of an overall target of 56 billion. Though many donors said rebuilding Iraq was essential to restoring overall peace in the Middle East, some were put off by the endemic violence in Iraq or were loath to be seen as backing a U.S. occupation regime.

"What is now clear on the ground is that the occupation forces have sunk in the quick sands of Iraq and an expanding pool of blood that could become an organized drawn-out war," Jordan's Al-Arab Al-Yawm newspaper said.