President Bush said that he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed in high-stakes talks Thursday that
Iraq should not be partitioned into separate, semi-autonomous zones.

President Bush and Prime Minister Al-Maliki have agreed to keep Iraq in one piece and that splitting Iraq into multiple zones would only increase the violence currently taking place.

This meeting was touted by the Bush administration and PM Al-Maliki's administration as an important meeting to discuss strategies to foster peace in the region however it's arrival was marred by protests including 30 Shiite members of Iraq's parliament suspending all parliamentary activity in protest and vocal objection by Iraq's neighbors Iran and Syria.

Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held a competing summit Wednesday with Iraq's president Jalal Talabani and called for the United States to withdraw troops from Iraq.

"I advise you to leave Iraq," Ahmadinejad said. "Based on a timetable, transfer the responsibilities to Iraqi government. This will agree to your interests, too."