NEW YORK (AP)--Iraq is shouldering its responsibilities in pushing ahead national reconciliation, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Tuesday after a meeting with the U.S. president in which George W. Bush pledged his continued support for the struggling government.
The meeting, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, comes as the Iraqi premier is facing mounting criticism, most notably from congressional Democrats, for what critics say is his inability to end, or even seriously curtail, fighting between the country's rival sects and ethnic groups.
"The Iraqi side is fully prepared to assume all the responsibilities and work for a better future for all of Iraq," al-Maliki said in his first meeting with Bush since a much-awaited report by America's top commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, which took stock of the situation in the country.
Al-Maliki stressed that "the future of Iraq goes through the gates of national reconciliation, of political agreements."
"That is the way to assure ... Iraq's future," he said.
Bush, who has seen his popularity plummet because of mounting U.S. fatalities in Iraq, reiterated his support for the government, saying: "We're with ya, prime minister."
The roughly 75 minute-long meeting is also the first since a Sept. 16 fatal shooting of 11 Iraqis - allegedly at by guards working for Blackwater USA. The incident has outraged Iraqis and raised tensions between the U.S. and the Iraqis, who have described the aggressive tactics of such companies as violations of Iraqi sovereignty.
Iraqi officials said the two briefly discussed the Blackwater violence, which is also the focus of a joint Iraqi-U.S. investigative committee.
"There must be respect for Iraq's sovereignty," one government official quoted al-Maliki as telling Bush. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed to the media.
U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen told reporters in New York that the two leaders "talked about the need to respect Iraqi sovereignty, and that that will be one of the elements that will be addressed in the process of defining the long-term relationship between the United States and Iraq."
Hadley said the Blackwater issue came up at the meeting, but was covered more extensively during talks between al-Maliki and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after the earlier meeting.
The issue of respecting Iraqi sovereignty is part of an ongoing dialogue "as we start talking about adjustments in (the) mission of our forces and in our force presence," Hadley said. Blackwater "came up in that context because it is one of the issues that will need ... to be addressed as we define the long-term relationship between the United States and Iraq."
Another senior Iraqi official said al-Maliki told Bush that such incident "are an embarrassment for us and you before the Iraqi people."
The official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush asked al- Maliki to provide him with a list of violations and the number of such incidents while noting that those who were convicted of crimes in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in 2004 were held accountable and are in prison.
Bush, under pressure from Democrats and some in his own Republican party, made clear that the U.S. still expects more effort on pushing through much-delayed laws, such as a national oil law, which have stalled in the Iraqi parliament amid factional bickering and, in some cases, defections.
The "political parties in Iraq must understand the importance of getting these laws passed," Bush said, speaking after the meeting. "Some politicians may be trying to block the law to gain special advantage. And these parties have got to understand that it's in the interests of Iraq to get good law passed."
Al-Maliki, who since his arrival has appeared confident in stressing his government's achievements, conceded that the "task before us is great."
"We have succeeded in ridding Iraq of dictatorship.... Now we have another challenge, which is to rid Iraq of terrorism," he said.
A day earlier, the Iraqi premier had said the same group - al-Qaida - was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and three noted incidents in Iraq, Jordan and Algeria. Iraq is the "tip of the bayonet" in the fight against terrorism, he said Monday, speaking addressing a crowd at a leading Shiite charitable foundation in New York.
Following his meeting with Bush on Tuesday, Al-Maliki said the government feels "that development and progress is occurring every day" in the country's political and security challenges. And, while delays have surfaced in passing some laws, "we continue to work on the basis of the existing law and we continue to work to have those laws passed."
Hadley, the national security adviser, said a key topic for the two men was the balance of powers of the central government and the provinces - an issue being tackled in the pending provincial powers law.
Attending on the Iraqi side the country's foreign minister, as well as several top lawmakers and advisers.