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CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- A powerhouse Republican lobbying firm with close ties to the White House has begun a public campaign to undermine the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, CNN has confirmed. A report by the U.S. intelligence community questions Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ability to govern. This comes as President Bush is publicly taking great pains to reiterate his support for the embattled Iraqi leader. Al-Maliki's government has come under sharp criticism and scrutiny from Washington lawmakers and officials, as reflected in Thursday's National Intelligence Estimate. A senior Bush administration official told CNN the White House...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — President Bush, scrambling to show he has not abandoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, offered a fresh endorsement today. "Prime Minister Maliki's a good guy, good man with a difficult job and I support him," Bush said in a speech to military veterans. "And it's not up to the politicians in Washington, D.C., to say whether he will remain in his position," Bush said. "It is up to the Iraqi people who now live in a democracy and not a dictatorship." The president's comment was intended to dispel the impression he left on Tuesday that he...

Earlier today, the Italian news service AKI reported that the presumed leader of the largest insurgency in Iraq will start cooperating with the Iraqi government. Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, one of the highest-ranking members of Saddam Hussein's government, reportedly pledged to work with Iraqi and American forces to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq: The leader of Iraq's banned Baath party, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, has decided to join efforts by the Iraqi authorities to fight al-Qaeda, one of the party's former top officials, Abu Wisam al-Jashaami, told pan-Arab daily Al Hayat. "AlDouri has decided to sever ties with al-Qaeda and sign up to...

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Iraq's prime minister lashed out Wednesday at U.S. criticism, saying no one has the right to impose timetables on his elected government and that his country "can find friends elsewhere." Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed the U.S. presidential campaign for the recent tough words about his government, from President Bush and from other U.S. politicians. Bush on Tuesday said he was frustrated with Iraqi leaders' inability to bridge political divisions. But he added that only the Iraqi people can decide whether to sideline al-Maliki. "Clearly, the Iraqi government's got to do more," Bush said. "I think...

George Bush hints Iraqi PM must go By Alex Spillius in Washington Last Updated: 10:27pm BST 21/08/2007 President George W Bush yesterday signalled that his patience with the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki had run out, suggesting that he should be voted from office before the country's security deteriorates further. Speaking at a trade summit in Canada, Mr Bush said: "There's a certain level of frustration with the leadership in general. "The fundamental question is, will the government respond to the demands of the people? And if the government doesn't respond to the demands of the people, they will replace...

Iraq: One of the loudest Iraq War critics, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, reports "tangible results" from the surge. Then he jeopardizes Iraq's future by calling for the prime minister's head. "I hope the parliament will vote the Maliki government out of office and will have the wisdom to replace it with a less sectarian and more unifying prime minister and government," Levin said after three days in Iraq and Jordan with the armed services panel's ranking Republican, Sen. John Warner. First, consider how much arrogance it takes to tell a fledgling democracy who should — and shouldn't...

"No one has the right to place timetables on the Iraq government. It was elected by its people," he said at a news conference in Damascus at the end of a three-day visit to Syria. "Those who make such statements are bothered by our visit to Syria. We will pay no attention. We care for our people and our constitution and can find friends elsewhere," Mr. al-Maliki said.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 — The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, after completing a two-day tour of Iraq, said Monday that the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki should be voted from office because it has proved incapable of reaching the political compromises required to end violence there. Skip to next paragraph The Reach of War Go to Complete Coverage » The Democratic chairman, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, and the committee’s ranking Republican, Senator John W. Warner of Virginia, who traveled to Iraq together, issued a joint statement that was only slightly more temperate than Mr. Levin’s...

The Iraqi prime minister and president on Thursday announced a new alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds, saying Sunni moderates refused to join but the door remained open to them. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the agreement was the first step to unblock political stagnation that has gripped his Shiite-led government since it first took power in May 2006. The announcement after three days of intense political negotiations in the capital was disappointing because it did not include Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and his moderate Iraqi Islamic Party. President Jalal Talabani and al-Maliki were flanked by the leader...

Baghdad, Aug 12, (VOI)- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on Sunday for a summit meeting by political leaders during the two upcoming days. "The internal political problems the country is suffering from, have forced me to make a call for the Iraqi political leaders to meet in a summit during the next two days," Maliki told a news conference in Baghdad. The Prime Minister added "the aim behind the summit is to address basic topics arisen in the Iraqi political arena as well as considering the political program and the strategic problems facing the government." "The meeting is to...

As Iraqis queue miserably for food and water, or swelter in homes and hospitals without electricity, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition government is collapsing around him. The latest boycott -- by four ministers from a non-sectarian party -- brought to 17 the number of members of the Shiite-led coalition to have walked out, tendered their resignations or withdrawn from cabinet meetings. Hopes that the so-called national unity coalition can be saved now depend on the senior leadership of the rival parties cutting a new power-sharing deal that can convince the bitter Sunni minority to return to the fold. But Maliki...

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will go to Iran today where he will hold talks on August 8 with Iranian officials on economic and political cooperation. The two countries have greatly expanded bilateral relations following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. RFE/RL Iraq analyst Kathleen Ridolfo discusses what al-Maliki hopes to achieve. RFE/RL: What is the purpose of al-Maliki's visit to Iran? Kathleen Ridolfo: This is al-Maliki's second visit to Iran since he took office and it comes within the context of bettering political relations and economic relations and -- of course more importantly -- securing relations between Iran and...

31 minutes ago BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki faces a revolt within his party by factions that want him out as Iraqi leader, according to officials in his office and the political party he leads. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, al-Maliki's predecessor, leads the challenge and already has approached leaders of the country's two main Kurdish parties, parliament's two Sunni Arab blocs and lawmakers loyal to powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Jaafari's campaign, the officials said, was based on his concerns that al-Maliki's policies had led Iraq into turmoil because the prime minister was doing too little to promote national reconciliation. The...

BAGHDAD (AP) - A key aide says Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's relations with Gen. David Petraeus are so poor the Iraqi leader may ask Washington to withdraw the overall U.S. commander from his Baghdad post. Iraq's foreign minister calls the relationship ``difficult.'' Petraeus, who says their ties are ``very good,'' acknowledges expressing his ``full range of emotions'' at times with al-Maliki. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who meets with both at least weekly, concedes ``sometimes there are sporty exchanges.'' It seems less a clash of personality than of policy. The Shiite Muslim prime minister has reacted most sharply to the American...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has postponed his first official visit to Tehran for "technical reasons," officials said Sunday. Al-Maliki was supposed to visit Iran Monday. It was unclear how long his trip would be delayed. Iraq's ambassador to Iran, Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh, and Ali al-Adeeb, a legislator and senior member with al-Maliki's Dawa party, confirmed that the trip had been postponed, with both citing "technical reasons." They did not elaborate. Meanwhile, iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency quoted unidentified Foreign Ministry officials as saying that talks were still under way with Iraqi officials to set a...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric on Saturday warned the prime minister to quell violence or risk "other powers" filling the gap, while police found the tortured and blindfolded bodies of 13 Pakistani and Indian pilgrims and their Iraqi driver. At least 15 violent deaths were reported elsewhere in Iraq, while the government announced it had formally taken over the notorious Abu Ghraib prison from coalition authorities. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, the cleric's office said. In July, al-Sistani was credited with restraining the Shiite community...

IRAQ'S Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to use "maximum force against terrorism", as bombs killed at least 19 people in Baghdad during the first meeting of his national unity Cabinet. In a fresh reminder of the huge task Mr Maliki faces in reining in bloodshed that has pushed Iraq to the brink of sectarian civil war, blasts hit Baghdad, including one suicide bomber who killed at least 13 people and wounded 18 in a crowded restaurant popular with police. Police and civilians were among the dead.

BAGHDAD, May 20, 2006 – In a watershed day in Iraqi history, the country's Parliament today approved 39 ministers and state secretaries that form the elected, representative government. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announces his new Cabinet in the Baghdad convention center May 20. Multinational Force Iraq photo   The Parliament confirmed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's choices for the Iraqi national unity government. The 37-member Cabinet contains representatives from all major parties and all major ethnic and secular groups. Following the vote, the ministers took their oath of office during a session broadcast throughout Iraq. The Parliament met at the...

One of the subtle consequences of the formation of the Iraqi cabinet after months of tortuous negotiations is that it is now the internationally recognized legal and permanent goverment of Iraq. The BBC has a roundup of quotes which indicate this new status. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister: Our first step will be to invite the Iraqi prime minister or foreign minister to a meeting [of EU foreign ministers]. The EU troika (Germany, Britain and France) will travel to Baghdad when the security situation permits.George W Bush, US President: Iraqis now have a fully constitutional government, marking the end...

I congratulate Prime Minister Maliki on the formation of Iraq's new unity government. Iraqis now have a fully constitutional government, marking the end of a democratic transitional process in Iraq that has been both difficult and inspiring. This broadly representative unity government offers a new opportunity for progress in Iraq. The new government reflects Iraq's diversity and opens a new chapter in that country's history. Iraq's new leaders know the period ahead will be filled with great challenge. But they also know that they -- and their great country -- will not face them alone. The United States and freedom-loving...