American troops in Iraq will remain there "until the job is complete," United States President George W. Bush told reporters today (Thursday) in a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.
The two leaders met in Jordan and held a two-hour session. Bush hailed the Iraqi premier as a "strong leader". Al-Maliki, for his part, stressed that he would not let the terrorists control Iraq. He called on Iran and Syria to help restore law and order in Iraq, but made it clear that Iraq was "the land of the Iraqis, and that its borders would be kept."
Bush and Al-Maliki told reporters they both agreed that Iraq should not be partitioned into semi-autonomous regions.
"Any partition of Iraq would only lead to an increase in sectarian violence," Al-Maliki explained.
The security situation in Iraq has deteriorated significantly since the U.S.-led invasion in mid-2003. Thousands of Iraqis have been killed in terror attacks each month. During September this year more than 3,600 Iraqis died in a devastating series of attacks. According to Bush, his meeting with Al-Maliki partly focused on increasing the training of Iraq’s security forces.
Meanwhile, the Shi’ite ministers who retired on Wednesday from the government, have conditioned their return on the improvement of the security situation, and the services provided to the public – mainly to the Shi’ites in the southern parts of Iraq.