WASHINGTON (AP)- The administration of the U.S. President George W. Bush is stepping up diplomatic efforts to stabilize Iraq, even as key congressional figures say their confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government is waning.

As members of the Iraq Study Group prepared to sit down Monday to talk over their soon-to-be-released recommendations for changes in U.S. war strategy, Bush left for a NATO summit in Europe and a meeting afterward with al-Maliki in Amman, Jordan.

Violence in Iraq is at its worst level in the roughly three and half years since a U.S.-led coalition invaded the country and toppled former dictator Saddam Hussein.

Bush’s summit this week follows talks Vice President Dick Cheney held over the weekend in the region and as members of the special study commission mull recommendations.

The New York Times reported in Monday’s editions that a draft report by the study panel led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III recommends aggressive regional diplomacy, including talks with Iran and Syria.

Sources who had seen the draft report told the Times it does not specify any timetables for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, although the commissioners are expected to debate the feasibility of such timetables.