Iraqi PM home after health tests

It is not clear precisely what kind of tests he had, but he had been said to be suffering from exhaustion.

Mr Maliki himself said on arrival that he was in good health and would at once resume the work of rebuilding Iraq.

While in Britain, Mr Maliki, 57, had talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown about British hostages in Iraq and political and economic progress.

The meeting came weeks after British forces transferred control of Basra to the Iraqi authorities - a significant milestone towards Britain's final withdrawal from southern Iraq.

Recent months have seen a decline in violence in Iraq as the American troop "surge" takes hold and Sunni nationalists end their support for al-Qaeda.

But Mr Maliki has been struggling to form a new government including Sunni representatives as well as his own Shia supporters.