Free Republic

Mullah Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a top Iraqi Shiite leader with close ties to Iran, will meet with President Bush next week, the White House confirmed Friday. Mullah leads the powerful Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, a rival group to the political movement led by firebrand Shiite mullah Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the meeting was set for Monday. "President Bush looks forward to an exchange of views and a discussion of important issues facing Iraq today," Johndroe said. Also, a senior administration official said Bush will meet with a Sunni leader...

A Shiite Muslim political leader said Friday that rumors were circulating of an impending coup attempt against the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and warned that "we will not allow it." A new government would mean "canceling the constitution, canceling the results of the elections and going back to square one . . . and we will not accept that," he said. Amiri is also a top official in the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which is the leading member of a coalition of Shiite political parties governing...