US President George W. Bush reiterated on Wednesday his support
for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki a day after appearing to
distance himself from the Iraqi leader.
"Prime Minister Maliki's a good guy, a good man with a difficult
job and I support him," Bush told military veterans in Kansas City,
Missouri.
"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."
Bush made the remarks one day after he noted "frustration" with
Maliki's government and said that if it failed to produce results,
Iraqis would replace him.
In response to a question whether Maliki had lost credibility
because of his inability to forge unity among rival factions at the
end of a North American summit on Tuesday, Bush said that the Iraqi
people, not their government, deserved credit for "noticeable and
tangible and real" reconciliation efforts.
"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 the government," Bush
warned.
"That's up to the Iraqis to make that decision, not American
politicians," he said in Montebello, Canada.
(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2007)
