Al-Maliki appealed to the Sadrists to end their boycott and admonished them for an action that he said violated the commitment expected from partners in his 6-month-old coalition government.

Special coverage: Escalating Violence in Iraq Related readings: Bush, al-Maliki agree not to divide Iraq Bush: US troops will remain in Iraq

"I hope they reconsider their decision because it doesn't constitute a positive development in the political process," al-Maliki said at a news conference on his return to Baghdad. "Political partnership means commitment."

Meanwhile, in an interview with ABC, al-Maliki confidently claimed that his forces would be ready to take over responsibility for security in Iraq by June, a timeline that is about 12 months shorter than what has been floated by top US military commanders.

"We and the President (Bush) agreed to keep the same (US) forces on the ground but to train more Iraqi forces," he said, according to excerpts from the interview to be aired later Thursday.

"We did not talk about any timetables and agenda for the withdrawal but now we are focusing on training Iraqi forces and then we will talk about reducing the number of multinationals," he said, alluding to the US-led, 150,000-strong multinational force in Iraq.

He said he had no objection to any timetable for a US troop withdrawal, but cautioned that such action should be put off until Iraqi forces were ready to stand on their own.

On Thursday, Bush said he would speed a turnover of security responsibility to Iraqi forces and assured al-Maliki that Washington was not looking for a "graceful exit" from a war well into its fourth year.

"So, we'll be in Iraq until the job is complete," Bush said.

Saleh al-Ojeili, a Sadrist legislator, said only a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq would persuade him and fellow Sadrists to resume participation in the parliament and government.

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