BAGHDAD, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said U.S. politicians must stop trying to run Iraq.
Maliki said American officials, such as U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., act as if Iraq were "one of their villages," CNN reported Monday.
Clinton, a 2008 U.S. presidential hopeful and Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have said Iraq's Parliament should replace Maliki when it reconvenes in September.
Last week, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, during a visit to Baghdad, also asked for the removal of Maliki's year-old government, which is faced with walkouts, CNN reported.
U.S. President George W. Bush has said he continues to support the prime minister but acknowledged a "level of frustration" with the Iraqi government, whose efforts are backed by more than 160,000 U.S. troops.
Maliki also is under fire from Bush's Republican allies, who have blocked congressional Democratic efforts to bring U.S. troops home.
