Nouri al-Maliki

27 August 2008 -- The U.S. Defense Department says it wants to turn over security responsibility to Iraqi forces as quickly as possible, but that the timing should be based on conditions. A spokesman repeated the position Tuesday in response to a statement by Iraq's prime minister calling for a full U.S. withdrawal by 2011.

Iraqi policemen and US soldier: Iraqi policemen gather around U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ian Putansu of Camden, MN, 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, as he instructs tactical maneuvers at the Hammiyat police station in Taji, Iraq, August 4, 2008.    » read more »

09 June 2008 -- The Pentagon says U.S. forces in Iraq will not be used to launch attacks on any of the country's neighbors. The comment was made as U.S. and Iraqi negotiators work on an agreement to cover the future U.S. troop presence in Iraq, and as Iraq's prime minister visits Iran.

Fast food franchises at Balad air base, Iraq: Photo by Nutloaf (CC)

Spokesman Bryan Whitman says the United States wants an agreement that would allow its forces to stay in Iraq temporarily, and would protect the troops like agreements with other countries do. And he went one step further to try to reassure Iran and other Iraq neighbors.    » read more »

09 June 2008 .-- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the presence of the U.S. military is Iraq's main problem.

Iranian state media report the two leaders met Monday in Tehran as part of Mr. Maliki's visit to Iran, his third since he became prime minister.

The Iranian reports quote the ayatollah as saying he is certain the Iraqi people will get through these difficult times and that the American dreams for Iraq will not materialize.

U.S. and Iraqi officials are negotiating a security deal that would allow American forces to remain in Iraq beyond December 31, when their U.N. mandate expires.    » read more »

29 May 2008 -- Iran's foreign minister has blamed the United States and its allies for the grave security situation in Iraq, which he says has "cast a shadow" on the lives of Iraqis.

Manouchehr Mottaki told a United Nations conference in Stockholm that Iraq's security problems are a result of what he called the "mistaken policies" of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

He stressed Iran's commitment to rebuilding its war-torn neighbor. U.S officials have accused Iran of arming and training Shi'ite insurgents in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki opened the conference Thursday by urging the international community to cancel his country's debt.

Mr. Maliki also called for an end to compensation that Iraq is required to pay due to Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.    » read more »

07 April 2008 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the movement of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will be barred from taking part in the political process unless it disbands its Mahdi Army.

Mr. Maliki said in an interview broadcast on CNN Monday that participation in upcoming elections is also dependent on the disbanding of the Shi'ite militia.

U.S. Army Soldiers outside Sadr City, Iraq: U.S. Army Soldiers at Joint Security Station Oubaidy located just outside Sadr City, Iraq, after a series of rocket and mortar attacks. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason T. Bailey (CC)    » read more »

18 March 2008 -- Iraq's main Sunni Muslim bloc has boycotted a conference aimed at reconciling differences among the country's rival political groups.

A spokesman for the bloc says it was not properly invited. He also says the bloc's political concerns are not being heard.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite Muslim, opened the conference Tuesday in Baghdad and called on all political leaders to support national reconciliation.    » read more »

11 November 2007 -- Iraq's prime minister has criticized the United States for refusing to hand over three former aides of Saddam Hussein to be executed for crimes against Iraqi Kurds.

Nouri al-Maliki said Sunday the American Embassy in Baghdad is preventing the U.S. military from transferring the three men to Iraqi custody.

Mr. Maliki says there is no legal reason to delay executing Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," and two other men sentenced to death for genocide against Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s.    » read more »