WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Monday it was a "good sign" that Iraqis wanted the new U.S. strategy of boosting troop numbers in Baghdad implemented more quickly.

Bush is sending 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq, mostly to help reduce the escalating violence in the capital.

The New York Times reported on Monday that many Iraqis said the slow pace of putting the plan into action had contributed to conditions that led to the worst single suicide bombing in the war which killed 135 people in a Shi'ite area of Baghdad on Saturday.

"The fact that government officials are now saying that it is time to start implementing the plan is a good sign," Bush told reporters as he met with his Cabinet.

He reiterated that there was no timetable set for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

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