February 6, 2007

Iraq's embattled Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has charged that some Arab countries were afraid of democracy because they mimicked the dictatorship of the late Saddam Hussein.

"I know why they oppose us, because they fear extension of democracy to their shores. They have this fear because they are a copy of the dictatorship which ruled Iraq," Maliki told Iraqi military commanders Tuesday.

Stressing that Iraq was a unified state, Maliki urged its neighbours to solve their own issues before meddling in Iraqi affairs, without naming any countries.

"Let the Arab countries look at their own people first. I urge them to see how they treat their majority and minority before they talk about our people," he said in an address broadcast on state-run Al-Iraqiya television.

"We are unified, be it Shiites, Sunnis or Kurds and Christians. In fact the terrorists are unifying us in blood as they kill everybody," Maliki said in a stern tone.

The Iraqi premier warned Arab nations to stop aiding "terrorists" who have unleashed a wave of bloodshed in Iraq.

"We were hoping that our brothers in neighbouring countries will be happy after our liberation from dictatorship, but unfortunately it seems they prefer to live with dictatorship in the region."

"There are efforts going on to interfere and smuggle weapons to terrorists. We have talked about it repeatedly and we are not going to stay silent."

The United States has regularly charged that Iran and Syria were helping militias and foreign fighters to fuel violence in Iraq that has left tens of thousands of people dead in the war-torn country.