Mr Bush met at the White House with Abdul Aziz Hakim, the Shiite leader of the largest bloc in Iraq's parliament, who said that he "vehemently" opposes any regional or international effort to solve his country’s problems.

Speaking at a joint press conference after the talks, Mr Hakim said "we have asked for the American forces to stay in Iraq" to enable Iraqi security to deal with terrorists.

Meanwhile, US President Bush said "We talked about the need to give the Iraq government more capability as soon as possible so that the elected government of Iraq can do what the Iraqi people want to secure their country from extremists and murderers."

Monday's developments came amid an atmosphere of rising expectations about a new US policy in Iraq and an acknowledgment by Mr Bush's national security adviser that the President accepts that a new approach is warranted.

National security adviser Stephen Hadley said on Sunday that while President Bush recognizes something different needs to be done, the president won't use the recommendations due this week from the Iraq Study Group as political cover for bringing troops home.

CNN