© Hadi MizbanNouri al-Maliki is frustrated with the lack of genuine support from America
Iraq's beleaguered Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is threatening to tear up a defence agreement with the US and build closer links with Iran and Russia instead.Sources close to Mr Maliki, who is under pressure from Washington to step down, say he could cancel the Strategic Framework Agreement with the US. The SFA, signed in 2008, outlines the terms for political, economic and security co-operation between Washington and Baghdad.
The document was intended to be the basis for a lasting relationship between the two countries, promoting peace, stability and democracy in Iraq. In return it granted the US a monopoly on defence contracts worth billions.
Frustrated by President Barack Obama's lack of support in the face of insurgency by the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, Mr Maliki is now considering abrogating the agreement altogether, the sources say.
The US has sent up to 600 military advisers to Iraq, but Secretary of State John Kerry has insisted further aid be conditional on moves by Iraq's government to heal the sectarian divide within the country. Mr Maliki has refused to make any concessions for the Sunni and Kurdish minorities.
Comment: It should not be forgotten that France's first 'Muslim radical', Mohamed Merah, was conscripted, funded and 'radicalized' by French intelligence: