by Olivier KnoxTue Dec 5, 1:52 AM ET
US President George W. Bush told Iraqi Shiite leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim that Iran and Syria must halt their "destructive activity" in Iraq, a Bush aide said.
Bush said later in a television interview he was confident that Hakim and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki "are committed to ending murder" in the violence-riven country.
"I know that he (Hakim) is prepared to take on the fact that there are murderers inside that society," Bush told Fox News.
The two met in the White House as the toll from sectarian violence in Iraq jumped. Police in Baghdad on Monday recovered 52 corpses of men killed execution-style in apparent sectarian attacks, taking the number of dead over the past two days to nearly 150, according to a security official.
Bush and Hakim, who leads the largest bloc in Iraq's parliament, said they agreed on the need to bolster the government in Baghdad in the face of strife which is tearing the country apart.
Earlier, after talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Hakim urged Washington not to withdraw US troops from Iraq, but to transfer more military authority to the government in Baghdad.
Iraq's government has "asked for American forces to remain in Iraq while transferring more authority to Iraqi officials and forces to enable them to deal with terrorism," he said.
Two days before the arrival of a heavyweight US commission's report advocating "a new approach" to fighting the war in Iraq, Bush told Hakim that the US public was frustrated with stabilization efforts there.
"I told him that we are not satisfied with the pace of progress in Iraq and that we want to continue to work with the sovereign government of Iraq to accomplish our mutual objectives," Bush told reporters after they met at the White House.
"We have discussed ways in order to provide all the necessities that the Iraqi armed forces will need, in terms of armament, in terms of training, in order to be in a position to assume the security part," Hakim said.
Hakim, who heads the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and leads the largest bloc in Iraq's parliament, said after the meeting that he opposed a regional or internationally-imposed resolution to the country's problems.
"We believe that the Iraqi issue should be solved by the Iraqis, with the help of friends everywhere. But we reject any attempts to have a regional or international role in solving the Iraqi issue," he said.
Hakim appeared to be rejecting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's idea of an international peace conference on Iraq.
Later, in a speech after his meeting with Bush, he called for Baghdad to reach joint security agreements with neighboring nations.
"We need to work on the following: Number one, conclude joint security agreements with neighboring countries and the region to fight terrorism and hand over criminals," Hakim said at the US Institute of Peace.
Speaking through an interpreter, the Shiite cleric said that such arrangements were necessary to "overcome the obstacles that hamper Iraq's progress and stability."
Earlier, behind closed doors, Bush "spoke directly about Iran and Syria and the critical need for them to respect Iraqi sovereignty and stop destructive activity that undermines Iraq," a senior US official said on condition of anonymity.
The two men "talked about the importance of moderates coming together on political and security issues. The political discussion centered on national reconciliation, bringing Sunni, Kurds and Shia into the political process and enhancing and empowering moderates," said the US official.
Bush, who has vowed not to take sides in Iraq's bloody sectarian violence, was to meet in January with Iraq's Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi, a top Sunni leader.
Hakim's unprecedented meeting with Bush came as the US president prepared to discuss the way forward in Iraq on Thursday with staunch ally British Prime Minister Tony Blair, one day after the bipartisan Iraq Study Group unveils its recommendations for a course correction in the war-torn country.
The panel, led by former secretary of state James Baker, is expected to call for a phased withdrawal of US forces without setting a timetable, as well as push for talks with Iran and Syria on controlling the violence in Iraq.