Washington, April 22, SPA -- The Bush administration reiterated its call for Iraqi leaders to form a government as soon as possible and expressed hope for progress “in coming days” after the Iraqi prime minister’s withdrawal appeared to end a political deadlock. “We continue to urge the Iraqi leaders to come together and get a unity government in place as quickly as possible,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters traveling with President George W. Bush to California late Friday. “We hope to see some good progress in the coming days.” Earlier, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice welcomed efforts to break the political deadlock in Iraq. “It looks like there’s movement and that’s good news,” she told reporters in the first U.S. reaction to the nomination of Jawad al-Maliki to take over as premier from embattled Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari. --SPA 1257 Local Time 0957 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/355257