Amid calls from Clinton and Levin, US moves to oust Iraqi prime minister

His statement followed a two-day visit to Iraq, during which he and Republican Senator John Warner held talks with the US ambassador Ryan Crocker, US military commander General David Petraeus and the leaders of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions who would have to support a no-confidence motion to sack Maliki.

Hillary Clinton, the leading Democrat contender for the 2008 presidential nomination, endorsed Levin’s comments yesterday. In a formal statement, Clinton declared: “During his trip to Iraq last week, Senator Levin... confirmed that the Iraqi government is nonfunctional and cannot produce a political settlement because it is too beholden to religious and sectarian leaders. I share Senator Levin’s hope that the Iraqi parliament will replace Prime Minister Maliki with a less divisive and more unifying figure when it returns in a few weeks.”