WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under fire for intelligence failures in Iraq, President Bush will try to change the subject on Monday by highlighting Libya's abandonment of unconventional weapons and his efforts to bring stability to countries threatened by Islamic militants.

In a visit to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Bush will cite progress in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as well as problems that remain in U.S. efforts to contain nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran.

The goal of Bush's trip appeared to be to enhance his national security credentials in his closely fought campaign against Democrat John Kerry. A Newsweek poll released over the weekend said Kerry was leading Bush 51 percent to 45 percent.

The trip follows the release last Friday of a Senate Intelligence Committee report that said U.S. intelligence agencies overstated the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, relied on dubious sources and ignored contrary evidence in the run-up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Democrats have used the report to accuse Bush of exaggerating evidence used to justify war against Iraq over weapons of mass destruction that have never been found. Republicans said the Bush administration was a victim of bad intelligence.

Bush will tour part of Oak Ridge National Laboratory where materials related to Libyan efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction are being stored.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi agreed earlier this year to give up his country's banned weapons and join the fight against terrorism. The Libyan reversal also led to the breaking up of a nuclear components black market run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb.

In a speech, Bush will say Libya's decision to give up its weapons programs is one of several examples of progress being made as part of U.S. campaigns against weapons proliferation and Islamic militancy, a senior administration official said.

Aides said Bush would not mention the recently uncovered Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's crown prince or the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland. Libya agreed last year to pay billions of dollars to relatives of the 270 victims. A Libyan secret agent was imprisoned for life for the bombing in January 2001.

Afghanistan, once an al Qaeda safe haven, is now a liberated country, Bush will say.

But problems remain. A bomb blast killed at least five people and wounded 34 in the western Afghan city of Herat on Sunday, raising new concern about security for landmark elections in October.

Bush will say al Qaeda was receiving help three years ago from inside Saudi Arabia with little opposition and that the Saudi government is now going after al Qaeda in its own country. Critics say Saudi Arabia only began responding in earnest to the al Qaeda threat after repeated attacks by militants.