So much for a democratic independent Iraq

From the NY Times :

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 28 — Senior Shiite politicians said today that the American ambassador has told Shiite leaders to inform the Iraqi prime minister that the Bush administration does not want him to remain the leader of Iraq in the next government.

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari holding a news conference last week in Baghdad, Iraq.

It is the first time the Americans have directly intervened in the furious debate over the country's top job, the politicians said, and it is inflaming tensions between the Americans and some Shiite leaders.

The ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, told the head of the main Shiite political bloc at a meeting last Saturday to pass a "personal message from President Bush" on to the prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who the Shiites insist should stay in his post, said Redha Jowad Taki, a Shiite politician and member of Parliament who was at the meeting.

Not much ambiguity about who thinks he's running the show, is there?