FACTBOX: Who is Iraqi PM Maliki?

(Reuters) - President George W. Bush's top officials in Iraq will report to Congress next week on security and political progress under Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Bush is under mounting pressure from opposition Democrats and some senior Republicans to start withdrawing U.S. troops amid growing frustration at Maliki's weak government and the slow pace of national reconciliation.

Here are some key facts on Maliki.

* EARLY LIFE:

-- Born at Hindiya, south of Baghdad, in 1950, he has a masters in Arabic and worked at the Education Ministry before fleeing in 1980 to neighboring Syria and then Iran under sentence of death for his political activism.

* SADDAM OVERTHROWN:

-- He returned after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 but did not appear in the spotlight like other politicians who were described by some Iraqis as riding in on American tanks.

* PRIME MINISTER:

-- Maliki was thrust to the forefront of Iraqi politics in April 2006 with the image of a tough, Shi'ite Islamist strong enough to weld warring factions together into a national unity government.