The issue focused on whether Mr. Obama's comments were worth taking seriously. A White House spokesman said that while it was "not true" that Mr. Obama had called for "any deal to end the civil war in Syria," he had also called for an end to the violence.

The White House also released a statement from Mr. Obama that said the president was "not calling for all of the violence to end in Syria."

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Mr. Maliki said that