LIMA, Peru (AP):

United States (US) President George W. Bush yesterday urged nations of Asia and the Americas not to abandon free trade in the face of a worsening global economic crisis.

Addressing an economic summit in Peru, Bush said developed and developing nations need to work together to resolve the global financial crisis, which started in the United States.

Resist the temptation to overcorrect

He said countries need to "resist the temptation to overcorrect by imposing regulations that would stifle innovation and strangle growth".

"One of the enduring lessons of the Great Depression is that global protectionism is a path to global economic ruin," Bush added at the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, perhaps his last address to a group of world leaders before leaving office.

Bush said when he took office, the United States had free-trade agreements in effect with only three countries. Now it has such pacts in force with 14 nations. He lamented that the US Congres adjourned without passing three pending deals with Colombia, South Korea and Panama, Bush said to hearty applause.

"Congress and our government must never turn its back on such a friend as Uribe," Bush said of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Bush also said it was important for nations to complete global free-trade talks known as the Doha Round. The APEC nations are expected to endorse a pledge to complete a framework for the Doha talks by the end of December.