WASHINGTON — Prime Minister al-Maliki of Iraq appealed to Congress yesterday to press the war in Iraq with money and troops, portraying his country as crucial to America as a front line in the war on terror and comparing violence there to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Addressing a joint meeting of Congress, Mr. Maliki said, “Do not imagine that this problem is solely an Iraqi problem because the terrorist front represents a threat to all free countries and free people of the world.”

Lawmakers in the House chamber gave him a warm welcome, but a number of Democrats stayed away, upset by Mr. Maliki’s stance on another Middle East crisis: He has refused to criticize Hezbollah for its attacks on Israel.

Despite tough rhetoric against terrorism in the Middle East, Mr. Maliki did not mention the combat between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas that over the past two weeks has killed hundreds, devastated parts of Lebanon, and seen rockets bombard northern Israel.

Later, Mr. Maliki and President Bush ate lunch with military troops at nearby Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Mr. Bush praised him there as a man who has “helped save lives.”

Congress has approved nearly $300 billion to try to secure and rebuild the country more than three years after an American-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein. Some 127,000 American troops remain in the region.

Without identifying exact amounts, Mr. Maliki lamented money that has wound up “in the hands of security contractors and foreign companies that operate with enormous profit margins,” rather than in the hands of needy Iraqis.

“There needs to be a greater reliance on Iraqis and Iraqi companies with foreign aid and assistance to help us rebuild Iraq,” he said.

The responsibility to fight terrorism “lies on the shoulders of every country and every people that respects and cherishes its freedom,” he said. “The battle of Iraq will decide the fate of this war.”

Mr. Maliki made a direct connection to the attacks on America, saying, “Thousands of lives were tragically lost on September 11 when these impostors of Islam reared their ugly head. Thousands more continue to die in Iraq today at the hands of the same terrorists who show complete disregard for human life.”

Mr. Maliki’s differences with his hosts over the Middle East fighting had threatened to sour his visit. The Bush administration, American ally Israel, and the majority of lawmakers insist that Hezbollah, which they consider a terror group, must be disarmed and defeated in southern Lebanon. European and Arab allies want a quick cease-fire to stop mounting civilian deaths in Lebanon.

Democrats sharply criticized the prime minister for painting what they said was a “rosy” picture of Iraq and not condemning Hezbollah.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the no. 2 House Democrat, said not naming Hezbollah as a terrorist organization “adds ambivalence to his comments.” Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a Democrat of Florida, called Mr. Maliki’s speech “disingenuous” because it did not acknowledge the violence in Iraq.

Republicans said they were not concerned that Mr. Maliki did not use his speech to talk about Hezbollah.

“He says he denounces terrorism and I take it at his word. Hezbollah, in my opinion, is a terrorist organization,” House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican of Illinois, said.

Lawmakers who shunned the speech included Reps. Nita Lowey, a Democrat of New York, and Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat of Connecticut, and Senators Schumer, a Democrat of New York, and Boxer, a Democrat of California.

“I didn’t attend because I feel strongly the U.S. Congress should not provide a platform for supporters of Hezbollah,” Ms. Lowey said.”If al-Maliki was wise, he might have requested a meeting with us.”

“I’d like to ask Maliki, when it comes to terrorism, which side is he on?” said Mr. Schumer, who had already criticized new Iraqi government over the suggestion that some insurgents who fired on American troops could ultimately be granted amnesty.

“If he can’t denounce Hezbollah, which is a group that even the Saudis, Egyptians, and Jordanians don’t like … what kind of ally is this? I’m very upset about where Maliki is,” Mr. Schumer said.

Rep. Eliot Engel, a Democrat of New York, did attend the speech, but made a point of refusing to stand or applaud because the prime minister did not condemn Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Israel. “According to him, terrorism against Iraq was unacceptable and terrorism against Israel is fine,” he said.

Mr. Engel said the Iraqi leader’s position on Israel strains the fledgling government’s relationship with America.

“It makes me question what are we fighting for over there. Is it going to be enlightened leadership of Arab moderates, or the same old nonsense, replacing Saddam Hussein with some other unhelpful government?”Mr. Engel said.

Reps. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat of Manhattan, Anthony Weiner, a Democrat of Queens, and Gary Ackerman, a Democrat of Queens, also stayed away.

“But the long-term here is that if you mollycoddle terrorists, you give them license to continue,” Mr. Ackerman said. “A terrorist is a terrorist.”

Mr. Weiner’s spokesman said he stayed away because he was busy working on gun legislation pending in the House.

Senator Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois, said he had asked Mr. Maliki directly at a breakfast yesterday whether he considered Hezbollah a terrorist group. “He questioned whether I had the right to ask him that,” Mr. Durbin said. Mr. Maliki responded in “only the most general terms that he condemns terrorism in all its forms,” said Mr. Durbin, his party’s second-ranking Senate leader.

The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of California, attended the speech, along with several other Democrats who had previously questioned whether it was appropriate to let him address the joint meeting because he had not defended Israel.

[The Democratic Party chairman, Howard Dean, yesterday called Mr. Maliki an “anti-Semite” for failing to denounce Hezbollah for its attacks against Israel, the AP reported.

“The Iraqi prime minister is an anti-Semite,” the Democratic leader told a gathering of business leaders in Florida. “We don’t need to spend $200 and $300 and $500 billion dollars bringing democracy to Iraq to turn it over to people who believe that Israel doesn’t have a right to defend itself and who refuse to condemn Hezbollah.”]