US President George W. Bush reiterated on Wednesday his support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki a day after appearing to distance himself from the Iraqi leader.

 

"Prime Minister Maliki's a good guy, a good man with a difficult job and I support him," Bush told military veterans in Kansas City, Missouri.

 

"And it's not up to the politicians in Washington, D.C. to say whether he will remain in his position," Bush said. "It is up to the Iraqi people."

 

Bush made the remarks one day after he noted "frustration" with Maliki's government and said that if it failed to produce results, Iraqis would replace him.

 

In response to a question whether Maliki had lost credibility because of his inability to forge unity among rival factions at the end of a North American summit on Tuesday, Bush said that the Iraqi people, not their government, deserved credit for "noticeable and tangible and real" reconciliation efforts.

 

"The fundamental question is, will the government respond to the demands of the people? And if the government doesn't respond to the demands of the people, they will replace the government," Bush warned.

 

"That's up to the Iraqis to make that decision, not American politicians," he said in Montebello, Canada.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2007)