US President George W. Bush held talks with a top Iraqi Shiite leader in the White House on Monday amid efforts to try to adjust the failing Iraq strategy.

Bush said he had a "very constructive conversation" with Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, head of Iraq's Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

Bush said they talked about the need "to give the government of Iraq more capability as soon as possible" so that the Iraqi government can do what the Iraqi people want to secure their country from extremists.

Bush also reaffirmed his support for the struggling Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
 
For his part, Hakim said he opposes any regional or international effort to solve Iraq's problems. "Iraq should be in a position to solve Iraq's problems," he said.

Earlier on Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she had "frank and transparent" talks with him.

US national security adviser Stephen Hadley has said that Bush will make "significant" changes to the Iraq policy after going through the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, which is to issue its report on Wednesday. 

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2006)