BAGHDAD, March 28: A senior Iraqi politician from a rival Shia party to Prime Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari said on Tuesday that US President George Bush had made clear he did not want Mr Jaafari to lead a new government of national unity.

Mr Bush had written to Shia leader Abdul Aziz al Hakim urging him to nominate someone else, Rida Jawad al Takki, an aide to Mr Hakim, said in a statement.

Mr Takki said the letter was transmitted by US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been trying to broker agreement among Shia, Kurdish and Sunni leaders on a unity government.

“George Bush sent a letter via Khalilzad to Abdul Aziz al Hakim, as head of the Alliance, telling him that George Bush does not wish or want Ibrahim al Jaafari to be prime minister,” Mr Takki, who is from Mr Hakim’s SCIRI party, said.

A spokeswoman for the US embassy said she was unaware of such a communication and said it was not US policy to interfere in the process of forming a government. “This is an Iraqi decision.”—Reuters