Iraqi PM hits back at US senators

Iraqi PM hits back at US senators
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and agencies
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: August 26 2007 20:45 | Last updated: August 26 2007 22:40



Nouri al-Maliki called on senators Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin to “come to their senses” on Sunday and stop treating Iraq as if it were “one of their villages”.

His remarks follow an onslaught of criticism by US lawmakers on the Iraqi prime minister’s leadership. “They talk about Iraq as if Iraq is their property,” Mr Maliki said at a press conference in Baghdad.

Mrs Clinton, the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, called on the Iraqi parliament last week to replace the prime minister with a “less divisive and more unifying figure”.

“During his trip to Iraq last week, Senator Levin . . . confirmed that the Iraqi government is non-functional and cannot produce a political settlement because it is too beholden to religious and sectarian leaders,” Mrs Clinton said in a statement.

Mr Maliki’s counterattack did little to ease scrutiny of the beleaguered Iraqi leader. Republican senator John Warner, a senior member of the armed services committee, said yesterday on NBC’s Meet the Press that Mr Maliki had “failed” to unify the Iraqi government and called on President George W. Bush to put “decisive pressure” on the leaders.

The criticism came as Iraq’s top Shia, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political leaders announced that they had reached consensus on some key measures seen as vital to fostering national reconciliation. Sunday’s agreement by the five leaders was the most significant political development in Iraq for months and was immediately welcomed by the US.

Iraqi officials said the leaders had agreed on draft legislation that would ease curbs on former members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party from joining the civil service and military.

The apparent breakthrough comes two weeks before General David Petraeus, the senior US military commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador, are set to deliver a progress report on Iraq to Congress. Mr Warner reiterated his call on Sunday for Mr Bush to announce the first stage of a phased withdrawal from Iraq by saying he might support Democratic legislation ordering a withdrawal if the White House did not change course soon.

“I’m going to have to evaluate it,” he said. “I don’t say that as a threat; I say that as an option we have to consider. The Iraqi government under the leadership of prime minister [Maliki] has let our troops down.”