Washington - President Bush told a Shiite political leader Monday that the United States is not happy with progress in Iraq and sought the cleric's help in curbing extremists and terrorists trying to undermine the struggling new democracy.

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim said U.S. troops need to stay in Iraq to help deal with escalating violence. He also told Bush that Iraq welcomes help from other nations, including those in the Middle East, so long as they do not bypass Iraq's political process.

"Iraq should be in a position to solve Iraqi problems," al-Hakim told Bush after they met in the Oval Office for more than an hour.

Some consider al-Hakim, who lived in exile in Iran for years, a more powerful political figure than Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Hakim leads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the largest Shiite bloc in Iraq's parliament.

His party also is backed by the Badr Brigade militia, which is blamed for sectarian killings.

The meeting was evidence that Bush, under pressure to find a new blueprint for his war strategy, was getting more personally involved in the political infighting among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

"I told him that we're not satisfied with the pace of progress in Iraq and that we want to continue to work with the sovereign government of Iraq," Bush said. He said the young Iraqi government needs to be given more capability as quickly as possible to secure the country from extremists and murderers.

Bush plans to meet next month with Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni. Last week, he met in Jordan with al-Maliki.