WASHINGTON, Dec 11: The White House said on Monday that there’s no move in Baghdad to remove Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The clarification followed media reports that key Shia leaders are manoeuvrings to oust Mr Maliki.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow told reporters there's no truth in the reports that a move was afoot to "dump" Mr Maliki.
President Bush has full confidence in Mr Maliki and “basically, everything” was wrong with the reports about his removal.
Earlier this month, at a meeting in Jordan, Mr Bush called Mr Maliki "the right man for Iraq."
But media reports insisted that Shia leaders in Iraq are working on a new alliance because they believe Mr Maliki has been unable to end the violence.
The alliance reportedly would be led by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who met President Bush at the White House last week. He would, however, not lead the new government and instead would allow the new alliance to select someone else as prime minister.
Commenting on these reports, a senior aide to Mr Maliki told reporters in Baghdad: "We know what's going on and we will sabotage it."
Earlier on Monday, President Bush visited the State Department for talks on Iraq with senior policy makers. Mr Bush has asked the State Department as well as the Pentagon to prepare separate reports on the situation in Iraq.
Last week, a bipartisan panel also presented a report on Iraq, urging Mr Bush to start withdrawal of troops by 2008 and consult Iran and Syria.
Mr Bush has said that he will consider all these reports before announcing his new strategy for Iraq.
"We talked about what's taking place on the ground in Iraq, particularly from the perspective of the State Department,” he told reporters after the visit.
He said he also received a briefing from Baghdad on the challenges and the tasks to help the Iraqi government get a country that can sustain, govern and defend itself.
“We also talked about the neighbourhood, the countries that surround Iraq and the responsibilities that they have to help this young Iraqi democracy survive,” he said.
“We believe that most of the countries understand that a mainstream society, a society that is a functioning democracy, is in their interests. And it's up to us to help focus their attentions and focus their efforts on helping the Iraqis succeed.” US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also participated in the briefing.
