"There were stories yesterday that Zal Khalilzad would be leaving as ambassador after the elections. Not true. No imminent plans for departure," said President George W. Bush's spokesman, Tony Snow, referring to Tuesday's US legislative elections.
"The president is glad Zal is an effective ambassador," Snow said.
Widespread public anger over Bush's handling of the Iraq crisis is the primary focus of the elections, and Khalilzad is one of the faces of US policy there.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also reaffirmed her backing for Khalilzad, according to her spokesman, Sean McCormack.
"I just asked the secretary about this because I've seen the news reports," McCormack said.
"The president and the secretary have a lot left for him to do there in Iraq and I don't think he has any immediate plans to leave," he said.
Faced with a surge in bloodshed, and the Iraq war's unpopularity in the United States, Bush has come under increasing pressure to make some change of course on Iraq.
Khalilzad, 55, has been US ambassador to Iraq since June 2005. He earlier served as US ambassador to Afghanistan, where he was born.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006