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By Tabassum Zakaria

AMMAN, Nov 30 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush praised Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as the "right guy" for Iraq on Thursday and said he agreed with Maliki that partitioning the country would only increase violence.

Bush's show of support came after U.S. officials insisted the Iraqi leader was not offended by a critical White House memo and had not snubbed Bush in Amman on Wednesday when the two had been expected to hold an initial meeting.

"He's the right guy for Iraq and we're going to help him and it's in our interest to help him," Bush told a joint news conference with Maliki in the Jordanian capital.

"It's in our interests to help liberty prevail in the Middle East, starting with Iraq. And that's why this business about graceful exit simply has no realism to it at all."

Bush said he and Maliki had ruled out any idea of dividing Iraq as a way to halt rampant sectarian violence.

"The prime minister made clear that splitting his country into parts, as some have suggested, is not what the Iraqi people want and that any partition of Iraq would only lead to an increase in sectarian violence. I agree," he said. The two men held their news conference after a working breakfast and a subsequent meeting without aides.

Bush said they had agreed to speed up the training of Iraqi security forces and handing over security authority to Iraqis. U.S. troops were in Iraq to "get the job done" and would stay as long as the Baghdad government wanted them there.

"It's not easy for a military to evolve from ground zero," he said of Maliki's efforts to build Iraqi forces, acknowledging that the Iraqi leader was "frustrated by the pace". Bush was speaking after reports the Iraq Study Group will recommend the U.S. military shift from combat to a support role in Iraq, and will call for a regional conference that could lead to direct U.S. talks with Iran and Syria, both accused by Washington of fomenting violence in their neighbour.

Maliki said his country wanted good ties with its neighbours but warned against external meddling.

"Iraq is for Iraqis. Its frontiers are defended and we will not allow them to be violated or let people interfere in our internal affairs," he said.

REDEPLOYMENT

A source familiar with the deliberations of the independent, bipartisan group said the idea was for U.S. combat forces to pull back to bases in Iraq and in the region over the next year or so. "It's basically a redeployment," the source said.

The panel is to present its report to Bush on Dec. 6.

Bush had expected to see Maliki on Wednesday, along with Jordan's King Abdullah. He was told on the way from Latvia, where he attended a NATO summit, that the Jordanians and Iraqis had decided against a three-way meeting, a U.S. official said.

In the end, Abdullah met both leaders separately.

U.S. officials insisted the change had nothing to do with a memo by White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley that questioned Maliki's ability to control the turmoil in Iraq.

The memo said "the reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into actions".

Bush reiterated support for Maliki, who has been criticised for failing to curb militias run by his Shi'ite allies.

"I'm talking to the man face-to-face and he says that he understands that a unified government, a pluralistic society, is important for success and he's making hard decisions to achieve that," he said.

Bush repeatedly called Maliki a man of "courage".

"No question it's a violent society right now. He knows that better than anybody. He was explaining to me that occasionally the house in which he lives gets shelled by the terrorists who are trying to frighten him," he said.

Bush is under pressure at home and abroad to change strategy on Iraq, where sectarian violence shows no sign of abating although the White House does not describe it as a civil war.

In Dubai, an Iraqi militant group urged its Sunni followers in Baghdad to wage holy war against Shi'ite militias.

"Baghdad is your city. Do not leave it for the strangers who intend to expel you. It is a battle of destiny now," the Islamic Army in Iraq said in a statement posted on an Islamist Web site.

The group, which has claimed several attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and the kidnapping of some foreigners, had previously limited calls for jihad against foreign forces in Iraq. (Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi, Caren Bohan and Dean Yates in Amman, and Arshad Mohammed in Washington)

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