Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Jordan for talks with U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday as reports suggest some in the White House questioning his ability to rescue Iraq from the current crisis.
U.S. doubts about Maliki's leadership appeared in a memo prepared by national security adviser Stephen Hadley and published by the New York Times.
Hadley told Bush in the Nov. 8 paper that Maliki needed political help and a possible shake-up of his seven-month-old national unity government of hostile factions.
It described the Iraqi premier as a man who "wanted to be strong but was having difficulty figuring out how to do so". "The reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action," the story quoted the memo as saying.
The White House said on Wednesday it had confidence in Maliki and wanted to boost his position.
Ahead of his arrival to Amman, Bush said he and Maliki would discuss transferring more control to Iraqi security forces and "the responsibility of other nations in the region" to support stability in Iraq.
On his part, Maliki said his talks with Bush would cover relations with Iraq's neighbours and shifting anti-insurgency military efforts to a "war against gangs".
