The New York Times had this headline "U.S. and Britain Push for Progress in Iraq" for this story: "Last Tuesday, Mr. Hakim fired the opening salvo in his campaign to unseat Mr. Jaafari by having his aides tell reporters that the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, had informed Mr. Hakim that President Bush preferred another candidate. That set off a furor here, with Mr. Jaafari saying in an interview that the Americans should stop interfering. "I accept this position because it's an Iraqi, democratic choice," he said."