...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
on Monday slammed as "aggressive and irresponsible" accusations by Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party....
that the kingdom was supporting global terrorism.
"The kingdom condemns the aggressive and irresponsible statements made by the Iraqi prime minister," an unidentified official told the SPA state news agency.
In an interview aired on Saturday, Maliki charged that Saudi Arabia and neighboring Qatar were supporting bully boy groups in Iraq and across the Middle East as well as terrorism worldwide.
"Nouri al-Maliki knows very well, more than anyone else, the clear and categoric position of the kingdom against terrorism... and is aware of the kingdom's efforts to combat this phenomenon locally and globally," the official said.
"Instead of making haphazard accusations, the Iraqi prime minister should take measures to end the chaos and violence that swamp Iraq."
The Saudi official accused Maliki's Shiite-led government of sectarian policies towards sections of the Iraqi population, an apparent reference to the disgruntled Sunni Arab minority.
The official said the violence convulsing Iraq was taking place "clearly with the blessing and support of the sectarian and exclusionary policies of his government."
"It is clear that those statements are aimed at turning the facts on their head, and blaming others for the domestic failures of the Iraqi prime minister."
In an apparent allusion to Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia's Shiite rival Iran, the official said that Maliki's failings had "subordinated Iraq to regional parties who have contributed to sectarian violence unprecedented in Iraq's history."
Maliki's alleged failings have also "endangered Iraq's territorial and national unity," he said.