U.S. plotting to oust Maliki, report says

BAGHDAD, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. officials resent the ties to Iran and the latest sonorous stance of the Iraqi premier and are mulling ousting or assassinating him, a Kurdish report says.

A secret report obtained by Dubai newspaper Gulf News from a major Kurdish political party in the central government said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's position on the U.S. troop presence in Iraq and his apparent collaboration with the Iranian regime prompted U.S. officials to examine ways to remove him from office.

"Maliki has started to undermine the influence of those in the Iraqi military and security commanders who are classified as proteges of the Americans. This has raised concerns in the U.S. military command in Baghdad," the report said.

U.S. officials, the report claims, are concerned Maliki may launch additional operations in Shiite areas of Iraq at the behest of Iranian officials.

The report says U.S. strategists favor current Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi with the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council as a possible replacement, but the have concerns over his position with Tehran.

A second consideration would be to urge Maliki to resign his position as Iraqi premier.

The third option, the Kurdish document alleges, is to use militant groups in Iraq to assassinate Maliki and replace him with a puppet regime.

The report comes on the heels of allegations by Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, who claims Washington has been spying on the Iraqi premier for at least the past two years.