Bush in Jordan

Al Maliki and Bush arrive for a joint news conference in Amman on Thursday. Bush praised Al Maliki as a "strong leader".

Al Maliki 'likely to be shunned by allies'

Dubai: The next few weeks are "very crucial" for Iraq's seven-month-old government led by belligerent Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, who could soon be shunned by his own Shiite allies, diplomatic and political sources said on Thursday.

Bush and says troops will stay in Iraq

Amman: US President George W. Bush strongly backed Iraq's prime minister on Thursday, saying Iraqi forces would be prepared more quickly to take over security and that Washington was not looking for a "graceful exit".


As the Talks on Iraq Conclude, Arabs Wonder, Is That All?

By HASSAN M. FATTAH

Published: December 1, 2006

AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 30 — For days, Arab governments lobbied against any American opening to Iran, Jordanians planned protests against President Bush and politicians braced for a possible announcement of a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

But as the summit meeting between President Bush and Prime Minister Kamal Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq concluded Thursday morning, the Arab world was left dumbfounded that nothing had come of it.

“I am baffled by what I saw,” said Abdel Moneim Said, director of the Ahram Center for Strategic Studies in Cairo. “This was an expression of the Americans in deep trouble, but Bush’s approach to dealing with the Iraqi problem also bore the signs of someone out of touch with what is going on.”

Mr. Bush said American troops would remain in Iraq unless Mr. Maliki’s government asked them to leave, and he pledged to accelerate the transfer of authority to Iraqi security forces, but without offering any details. He dismissed calls for a timed withdrawal and emphasized that he and Mr. Maliki would oppose any plan to partition the country. And he seemed to dismiss the possibility of opening relations with Iran while insisting he is realistic about the difficulties in Iraq.

“I did not see a coherent strategy that really deals with the situation,” Mr. Said said. “I did not see Bush realizing how bad it is.” Mr. Bush and Mr. Maliki appeared in a joint news conference after an hourlong breakfast meeting with aides at the Four Seasons Hotel here that was followed by a one-on-one session that lasted 45 minutes.

The night before, Mr. Maliki took the unusual step of backing out of a planned meeting with the president, an embarrassment to the White House that came on the heels of the publication of a classified memo from Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, that raised doubts about Mr. Maliki’s leadership.

But on Thursday morning, an animated Mr. Bush stood at one lectern, while a decidedly reserved Mr. Maliki stood at another, at times looking tense, at others bemused.

“I saw someone trying to buy time for the next six months,” said Turki F. al-Rasheed, director of the Saudi Voters Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, speaking of Mr. Bush.

Mr. Bush sought to counter rumors of tensions with Mr. Maliki, calling him “the right guy for Iraq” while emphasizing his role as the leader of a sovereign nation. “He has shown courage in the last six months,” Mr. Bush said.

Yet many Arab analysts saw Mr. Bush as managing Mr. Maliki. At one point he encouraged Mr. Maliki to call on members of the Iraqi news media and told him “good job!” as the news conference drew to a close.

“There’s an inherent contradiction in the discourse,” said Fares Braizat, an analyst at Jordan University’s Center for Strategic Studies and Fulbright fellow in Washington.

While Mr. Bush sought to emphasize that Washington was helping Mr. Maliki achieve Iraqi goals, Mr. Braizat said, he appeared to be guiding Mr. Maliki and at times twisting his arm. “Ultimately, he was dictating to him what to do,” he said.

The sessions ultimately proved disappointing for Arab nations, Mr. Braizat said. “The meeting showed that Bush cared about the game, but he did not know how to make the right moves,” he said. “There were no tangible results.” And results, he said, were what Arab leaders were looking for.

Jordan’s security services were perhaps the biggest winner. They had set out to prove to the international news media that they could keep a tight grip on security while allowing a degree of freedom for Jordanians to express their anger at Mr. Bush and the United States.

“We kept the situation under control, and still the people were able to protest,” a senior security official said Thursday evening, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to speak with the news media. “They burnt some flags, but for us, burning flags is not a security issue, it’s an environmental issue.”