Bush expresses support for Iraqi PM

US President George Bush, scrambling to show he has not abandoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, offered a fresh endorsement today.

“Prime Minister Maliki’s a good guy. He's a good man with a difficult job and I support him,” Bush said in a speech to military veterans.

“And it’s not up to the politicians in Washington DC to say whether he will remain in his position,” Bush said.

“It is up to the Iraqi people who now live in a democracy and not a dictatorship.”