Maliki handed Iraq in golden plate to Iran: former premier

Friday, 11 January 2013

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Eyad Allawi (picture) says the current Iraqi government is backed by Iran and the United States. (Al Arabiya)

 

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By Al Arabiya

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government handed in the country to Iran “in a golden plate,” former Iraqi premier and head of the al-Iraqiyya Coalition Eyad Allawi said in an interview with Al Arabiya Friday.

Denouncing Maliki’s accusations that he is supported by foreign countries, the Sunni-backed Allawi said history clearly shows that al-Maliki’s government is backed by Iran and the United States.

“It is known that Iran supports the Iraqi regime and that the United States, with its limited political views, handed in Iraq on a golden plate to Iran,” Allawi told Al Arabiya.

In a live TV interview with Al Arabiya, Allawi demanded Maliki’s resignation after thousands of people allied across Iraq against the prime minister demanding a mass prisoner release, stronger human rights provisions in Iraq’s prisons, and a repeal of the current anti-terror legislation.

Allawi said that the U.S. war left Iraq torn apart, and that the regime that handled the country’s affairs afterwards built a political structure based on sectarianism.

“The protests reflect the gruesome situation that followed [U.S.] occupation, and are natural response to the way the country is being ruled since then,” said Allawi.

He added that the political structure in Iraq has been established since then on “marginalization, exclusion and sectarian basis.”

“The current situation needs to be resolved from its roots and with a national consensus,” Allawi said.

Allawi said that his coalition would defiantly withdraw confidence from Maliki’s government if promised reforms were not met, saying he supports early parliamentary elections, but after al-Maliki resigns from his post.