U.S. official meets with Iraqi prime minister

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military announced seven more deaths — four Marines and three soldiers killed Thursday — raising the death toll for November to 11. At least 105 U.S. forces died in October, the fourth-highest monthly toll of the war.

Meanwhile, for the second time this week, a top Bush administration official huddled with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Al-Maliki's demand for a speedier transfer of power to his military was believed to have been among issues he discussed with U.S. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte in the heavily fortified Green Zone.

Negroponte arrived just four days after national-security adviser Stephen Hadley paid an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital and was heard to say he had come "to reinforce some of the things you have heard from our president."

The two top U.S. officials came to the Iraqi capital in close succession after a video conference Saturday during which President Bush and al-Maliki agreed to set up a five-member committee to coordinate military and political matters.

Hassan al-Suneid, a top al-Maliki aide and legislator from his Dawa Party, said at the time that the Iraqi leader was using the GOP's vulnerability in the coming midterm congressional elections to leverage concessions from the White House — particularly the speedy withdrawal of American forces from Iraqi cities to U.S. bases in the country.

Al-Maliki had complained bitterly about recent U.S.-Iraqi operations, under the direction of U.S. officers, saying they were causing undue problems for the Iraqi people and undermining his authority.

On Tuesday, al-Maliki ordered the end of an American blockade of Sadr City, the capital's sprawling Shiite slum, and the central Karradah district. The Americans imposed the blockades the week before in their search for a kidnapped U.S. soldier.

Al-Maliki and a major political backer, radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia runs Sadr City, charged the U.S. with collectively punishing the people of the two districts.

In the meantime, the U.S. military has announced that al-Maliki planned to raise his military force structure by an estimated 18,000 men to a total of about 144,000. Al-Maliki has claimed he believes the quicker his forces control the country, the faster violence will diminish.

Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said last month that he believed Iraqi forces would be ready to take control of all of the country in 12 to 18 months, with "some level" of American support.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad would provide no details of the Negroponte visit and said it was not announced in advance as a matter of security.

The Iraqi government said the intelligence boss had reassured al-Maliki of Bush's continued backing.

"They discussed the latest political developments in Iraq and stressed the importance of Iraqi troop readiness and building them both quantitatively and qualitatively so they are ready to take control of Iraq's security. Negroponte reaffirmed the support of President Bush and his administration for the Iraqi government," the al-Maliki Cabinet said in a statement.

Negroponte served as the ambassador to Iraq before the current envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, whose announcement two weeks ago of plans for timelines to measure the Iraqi government's success in curbing violence enraged al-Maliki.

The increasingly prickly prime minister said at one point that he was a friend of the United States but "not America's man in Iraq."