Al Maliki 'gets last chance'

Dubai: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has been given "one last chance" by the Bush administration, as Arab pressure mounts on Washington to stop the sectarian violence that threatens to tear Iraq apart, according to diplomatic and political sources.

Al Maliki was praised by US President George Bush as "the right guy" for Iraq following a breakfast meeting in Amman on Thursday, one day newspapers published a critical White House memo in which national security adviser Stephen Hadley questioned Al Maliki's ability to control the turmoil in Iraq and criticised him for not curbing Shiite militias.

The violence is expected to rise "dramatically" as Shiite radical cleric Moqtada Al Sadr's party has withdrawn its support for Al Maliki and withdrawn its six ministers from the cabinet, said an aid to a senior Iraqi official, who pointed to "ongoing talks by Al Sadr and Hareth Al Dhari, leader of the hardline Sunni group the Muslim Scholars Association to form "a united front" to force an early American withdrawal.

But according to one diplomat, the Hadley memo "closely reflects the opinions of many in the US administration and the Arab world as well as some of even Al Maliki's own allies."

The Amman meeting could be "Al Maliki's last chance to prove he can do the job," said the informed Arab diplomat, who held talks lately with a number of Iraqi leaders.

He said another Shiite party, the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution (SCIR), a key partner in the ruling coalition, has already begun promoting its second man, current vice president Adel Abdul Mahdi, to replace Al Maliki.

Mahdi, who has been touring the region lately to win Arab support, would offer Sunnis more power in running Iraqi affairs, the aid said, in reference to demands by Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.