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Kurds Lead Charge to Oust Iraqi Leader

US tries to stave off no-confidence vote against PM Maliki

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 9, 2008 4:02 PM CST
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(Newser) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is under fire again, this time from Kurdish politicians who say he hasn’t followed through on promises he made after the Kurds propped him up last summer. A Kurdish/Sunni coalition against Maliki almost has enough votes to depose him, a development the US fears would set back already-sluggish political progress, the Washington Post reports.

Maliki is also being propped up by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. But neither Sistani nor the US is particularly happy with Maliki’s inept administration. The US is hoping to team up with opposition figures to work around Maliki. “Our message to Maliki is that you can’t govern solo,” said Ambassador Ryan Crocker, but he urged focus on improving, not changing, the government.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, right, and the leader of the northern autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, left, look on during the signing ceremony for a three-page agreement on a new alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds at a meeting in Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007. (AP Photo/...
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, right, and the leader of the northern autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, left, look on during the signing ceremony for a three-page agreement on a new alliance...   (Associated Press)
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks during the signing ceremony for a three-page agreement on a new alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds at a meeting in Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed, Pool)
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks during the signing ceremony for a three-page agreement on a new alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds at a meeting in Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007....   (Associated Press)
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, right, speaks during a press conference in Baghdad in this Oct. 3, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, right, speaks during a press conference in Baghdad in this Oct. 3, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)   (Associated Press)
An Iraqi displays placards bearing the picture of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, following his return to Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008. Al-Maliki returned to Iraq Saturday from London after a week of medical checks. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)
An Iraqi displays placards bearing the picture of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, following his return to Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008. Al-Maliki returned to Iraq Saturday from London after a...   (Associated Press)
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Kurds deny reports of government boycott
Kurdish Globe

Iraq's government still paralyzed
Kurdish Globe

An interview with Maliki
Asharq Alawsat (UK)

 
Iraq • Ali al Sistani • Nouri al-Maliki • Kurdistan • Kurds • Iraq government • Jalal Talabani • Massoud Barzani

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