Al-Maliki's days are numbered

Iraqi mourners cry during the funeral of relatives killed in a US military air strike in the predominantly Shia Baghdad suburb of Sadr City Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki is a man with few friends these days.

Many blame him for the current political crisis triggered by successive resignations of major political groups from his cabinet. Six ministers of the Sunni Accordance Front have left the cabinet. This was followed by the resignation of the justice minister, the withdrawal of the five pro-Sadr ministers, and the boycott of the cabinet by the four ministers of the Iraqi List. One man, however, seems to support Al-Maliki. Iranian President Ahmadinejad, speaking the day after meeting the prime minister, said that "critics of the Iraqi government are corrupt." Al-Maliki refused to comment on that remark, but other politicians were incensed.

Iyad Gamaleddin, a parliamentarian from the Iraqi List, said that "Iraq is an independent country and no one has the right to interfere in its affairs. The government and the opposition are all Iraqis and outsiders have no right to interfere in our politics." Several parliamentarians said that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements were a "violation" of Iraqi sovereignty.

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