New York - US President George W Bush urged governments at the United Nations on Thursday to include religion in their work and help spread democracy around the world.

In his final days as the top but not the most admired US leader, Bush remains true to his belief to bring democracy to other countries, including using military force to invade Iraq in March, 2003, to make that country a democracy.

Bush told the UN General Assembly that the United States, represented by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, led the discussion that resulted in the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights 60 years ago.

"Today, the United States is carrying on that noble tradition by making religious liberty a central element of our foreign policy," he said in an address to the UN assembly session on the Culture of Peace.

"We strongly encourage nations to understand that religious freedom is the foundation of a healthy and hopeful society," he said. "We are not afraid to stand with religious dissidents and believers who practice their faith even where it is unwelcome."

"And the best way to safeguard religious freedom is to aid the rise of democracy," he said.

The assembly session was called to debate how best to use values deriving from various religions and cultures in order to help resolve political and armed conflicts. The session was strongly pushed by Saudi King Abdullah, who broke the barrier between Islam and Catholicism by meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.

King Abdullah was praised by the kings of Jordan and Bahrain, emirs, and presidents of Israel, Pakistan, Afghanistan and most of the 80 government delegations that attended the two-day conference at UN headquarters in New York.

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said King Abdullah brought about change rather than just talking about it in his efforts to advance interfaith dialogue among governments. But Zardari urged the king to make another step by giving Saudi women more freedom following the construction of a university for women in Saudi Arabia.

"This may surely be considered as a historic milestone for women empowerment in the kingdom and the Muslim world," Zardari said. (dpa)