By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Leading U.S. Senate Democrats called on President George W. Bush on Wednesday to urgently appoint a special envoy to Iraq, who would pressure the Iraqi government to take steps needed to curb violence there.

In a letter to Bush, leaders of the new Senate Democratic majority that will take power in January said the president should appoint the envoy to follow up on Bush's planned meeting this week with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

That meeting, which was supposed to begin on Wednesday in Amman, Jordan, has been delayed until Thursday.

"Time is of the essence. The president has to move out decisively with Prime Minister Maliki," Sen. Jack Reed, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told a news conference.

"I don't think we can afford to wait for the Iraqi Study Group report, if it comes in in December or January," Reed said, speaking of a bipartisan panel charged with evaluating policy in Iraq. Not long after Reed spoke, a source close to the study group said it would present its report on Dec. 6.

More U.S. troops cannot end the violence in Iraq, the Democrats' letter said. The envoy should work full-time with the Iraqi government to stop bloodshed by disarming militias and developing a broad-based political settlement, it said.

Eventually, the special envoy's tasks could be expanded to a regional dialogue on Iraq, Reed said. He declined to suggest anyone for the post, but said the person should be close to Bush, so Iraqis would know he or she spoke for the president.

The letter was signed by Reed; incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and his assistant, Richard Durbin of Illinois; the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin of Michigan; and the incoming chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Jay Rockfeller of West Virginia.

They are among Senate Democrats who favor starting a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in the next four to six months, although Reed stressed on Wednesday that what he calls a "redeployment" could at first involve moving U.S. troops around within Iraq -- before they are moved out.

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