[Al Ahram] Nuri al-Maliki stuck to his guns and refused to accept his removal as Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday, but his hold on power was tenuous as Iran's supreme leader, a long-time Maliki ally, publicly backed his replacement. Taking to state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
as acting premier, Maliki said the supreme court must rule on this week's move to ask his Shiite Islamist party colleague Haider al-Abadi to form a new government - a change that Iran, the United States and many Iraqis see as vital to halt the advance of Sunni myrmidons.
But while the loyalty of at least some Shiite militia and government forces remains uncertain, there were further signs that Maliki, blamed for alienating the Sunni minority during his eight years in power, is isolated, even among fellow Shiites.
US President Barack Obama
Because I won...
- whose European allies followed his lead on Wednesday to arm Kurdish forces that have taken the recent brunt of fighting with the Sunni Islamic State - has already offered Abadi its endorsement. Washington lost patience with Maliki, who rose from obscurity during the US occupation.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, bound to Tehran's US adversary by a common interest in curbing the rise of Sunni jihadists in Syria and Iraq, offered his personal endorsement to Abadi. He very publicly distanced himself in the process from Maliki, who has looked for support from Iran, where he spent years in exile opposing Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
"I hope the designation of the new prime minister in Iraq will untie the knot and lead to the establishment of a new government and teach a good lesson to those who aim for sedition in Iraq," Khamenei said in a statement on his website.
Iranian media carried reports that Khamenei sent an envoy last month to take part in discussions with Iraqi Shiite political and religious leaders to find an alternative to Maliki, who had held on since a parliamentary election in April despite being blamed by many for fuelling sectarian hatreds.
Those leaders, including Iraq's reclusive top holy man Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, last week rallied around Abadi, who long ran a British engineering company, as a compromise figure who could bring moderate Sunnis into power to cooperate on holding off the myrmidon offensive in the north.