President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged Iraqi Prime Minster Nouri al Maliki to unite rival factions in Iraq, after the largest Sunni Arab bloc in Iraq announced that it was withdrawing from the government. Bush spoke to al Maliki for 45 minutes in a secure videoconference, a part of a regular series of conversations the two have been having on the war and Iraq's struggling government. “The president emphasized that the Iraqi people and the American people need to see action, not just words, but need to see action on the political front. The prime minister agreed,” said White house spokesman Tony Snow. Snow said reconciliation is ongoing, and noted that Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, as well as the Iraqi minister of defense were still at their posts.
