Bush and al-Maliki "need to be talking about how to do that and what steps Iraq needs to take and how we can support" Iraq's leaders, Hadley said.

Special coverage: Escalating Violence in Iraq Related readings: Bush to go overseas again for key talks Bush still to meet with Iraqi PM

The adviser rejected suggestions that Iraq had already spiraled into a civil war and said it was unlikely Bush would address with the Iraqi leader the issue of any US troop withdrawals. "We're not at the point where the president is going to be in a position to lay out a comprehensive plan," Hadley said.

Hadley also said he believed that al-Maliki - rather than Bush - seemed more likely to bring up the subject of dealing with Iran and Syria, saying the Iraqi leader had strong views on the subject.

Bush received a briefing Sunday night at the White House from Vice President Dick Cheney, who had gone to Saudi Arabia over the weekend as part of the administration's expanded efforts to draw Iraq's neighbors into the search for a solution.

In further signs of a worsening situation, a mortar attack ignited a huge fire Monday night at an oil facility in northern Iraq, shutting the flow of crude oil to a major refinery. And a US Air Force jet crashed in Anbar province, a hotbed of the Sunni-Arab insurgency, officials said. Al-Jazeera reported that the pilot was killed.

Meanwhile, Britain said it expects to withdraw thousands of its 7,000 military personnel from Iraq by the end of next year, and Poland and Italy announced the impending withdrawal of their remaining troops as well.

In the US, the Iraq Study Group, a 10-member commission led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, was working on a set of strategies for Iraq.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan discussed the situation in Iraq Monday afternoon in a teleconference with members of the group, which was meeting in Washington.

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