Iraqi PM hits back at foreign critics
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki yesterday angrily rebuked the US politicians who have called for him to be replaced, and accused France of also pushing for him to be turfed out of office.
Maliki's response came after two US opposition senators, Carl Levin and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, urged Iraqi lawmakers to choose someone else to lead Iraq's ruling coalition and seek national reconciliation.
"Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin are democratic people and should respect democracy. They talk about Iraq as if Iraq is their property," Maliki said at a news conference in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.
"Leaders like Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin have not experienced in their political lives the kind of differences we have in Iraq. When they give their judgment they have no knowledge of what reconciliation means," he said.
Maliki also lashed out at France, following a visit to Iraq last week by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, which was initially hailed as a success.
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