Baghdad offensive unopposed, PM talks to Bush
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U.S. and Iraqi forces sweeping through Baghdad met little resistance on Friday in an offensive that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told President Bush had been a "brilliant success" so far.
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Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki shrugs off US criticism of slow progress saying it is understandable in the face of violence.
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Iraqi leaders insisted they were making military and political progress, defending their efforts after the Bush administration gave the Baghdad government a spotty report card on a series of benchmarks aimed at bringing stability to the war-torn nation.
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President Bush spoke by telephone Tuesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi to reaffirm the importance of holding the Jan. 30 elections in that country, the White House said.
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TALLINN, Estonia Nov. 28--President Bush said Tuesday morning he will press Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a plan to contain the escalating sectarian violence, though he refused to characterize the situation in Iraq as a civil war.
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JANESVILLE: US President George W Bush said he had spoken by telephone with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday and that they shared an unyielding approach to extremists in war-torn Iraq.
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US President George W. Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Wednesday said they saw progress in Iraq and rejected heavy pressure to set a timetable to bring home troops fighting there.
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President Bush retains confidence in Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki despite the failure of the Shiite politician's signature effort to improve security in Iraq's bloody capital, the White House said as Bush prepared to host the new leader.
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President Bush meets with Iraqi interim President Ghazi al-Yawar, Monday, Dec. 6, 2004, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.
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US President George W. Bush met with his close ally Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Wednesday to discuss miltary and security ties, as the US military chief in Iraq hinted at a troop reduction.
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Iraq's prime minister Monday touted his government's efforts in thwarting "sectarian war" and acknowledged that Iraqi troops are not yet ready to fully take over security duties from the U.S.-led coalition.
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President Bush and visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi on Thursday repudiated critics of their plans for Iraq and insisted that progress is being made toward establishing democratic rule in the embattled country.
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The Iraqi government denied on Monday  it had suspended talks to avert a military assault on the  rebel-held city of Falluja.
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Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain visited Baghdad under heavy security today, an unannounced trip that coincided with an attack on an American military base
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President George W. Bush, under pressure to change strategy in Iraq, meets Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday after making clear he does not support calls for U.S. talks with Iran or withdrawing American troops.
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President Bush strongly backed Iraq's prime minister on Thursday, saying Iraqi forces would be trained more quickly to take over security and Washington was not seeking a "graceful exit" for U.S. troops.
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CANBERRA: Australian Prime Minister John Howard refused today to apologise for joining the US-led invasion of Iraq despite a new US report that said Baghdad had no weapons of mass destruction at the time of the attack.