"They all agreed to creating a bipartisan consultative group on the global war on terror," a White House official told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

In his speech on January 10, embattled Bush proposed a working group involving both Democrats and Republicans "to win the war on terror."

The White House official said Bush phoned Democratic leaders Senator Harry Reid and Representative Nancy Pelosi over the group on Tuesday, January 30.

They agreed the group would meet for the first time next week.

A spokesman for Reid, leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, confirmed the report.

"We're encouraged by this step," said Jim Manley, adding he was "hopeful" the meetings could make progress.

Under the so-called war on terror Bush unleashed war against Afghanistan shortly after the 9/11 attacks to topple the ruling Taliban regime.

Two years later, Bush invaded Iraq on claims of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, a claim later refuted by a US presidential report.

Since then, the country has been gripped by a bloody cycle of violence with more than a hundred people dying on a daily basis.

Experts say that the United States has turned into a police state after the terrorist 9/11 attacks.

In the name of war on terror, Bush authorized tapping America's main communications systems and spying on American citizens without court-approved warrants.

The Treasury's Terrorist Finance Tracking Program has been further introduced to tap into a vast global database of confidential financial transactions under the pretext of terrorism combat.