Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:18AM GMT
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (right) and former
US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker (centre).
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has reportedly insisted that Saudi Arabia bears “a culture of terrorism,” alleging that the US-backed monarchy is the main sponsor of terrorism in Iraq with the aim of inciting a civil war there.
Newly released classified US diplomatic communication by the reputed whistleblower website WikiLeaks reveal details of US State Department cables on meetings between Prime Minister Maliki, General David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker in 2008 in which Maliki accuses Iraq's Arab neighbors of funding proxy groups to foment violence in an attempt to destabilize the country, the Al Jazeera network reported Friday.
Moreover, in a May 2007 cable, the Iraqi prime minister stated to Petraeus and Crocker that "I told Vice President Cheney that (Saudi) Prince Muqrin is funding a Sunni army to oppose the Shia army."
Maliki then went on to add that the Saudis “have a culture that supports terrorism” and that if the Persian Gulf countries want to address the issue of terrorism then they should start with Saudi Arabia.
"If they (the Persian Gulf Arab states) want to talk about violence, maybe we should have a conference about Saudi Arabia. Most terrorists here are Saudis... The Saudi people have a culture that supports terrorism. The Saudi government cannot control it, and they cannot get rid of the terrorist institutions that are creating and funding terrorism," the leaked cables reveal.
Since 2003, when former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was deposed in a US-led war on Iraq, independent analysts persistently maintained that Saudi Arabia sponsors sectarian terrorism in Iraq to promote its influence in the region and weaken the civilian government in Baghdad.
Statistics also seem to confirm that during the past eight years, majority of suicide bombers captured or killed in Iraq were either Saudi nationals or natives of countries that are closely allied with Saudi Arabia such as Jordan, Kuwait, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.
In a meeting at Iraqi prime minister's residence on April 14, 2008, Maliki slammed his country's Arab neighbors, especially Saudi Arabia, and questioned the need for an upcoming "Neighbors' Conference".
"We have seen nothing positive from Iraq's neighbors; they did not reduce our debt, they did not return their embassies, and they have all interfered in our political, military and financial realms," Maliki told the US officials.
Additionally, the leaked State Department cables describe the extent of authority that US General Petraeus wielded over Iraq's civilian government as commander of the Multi-National Force in the war-torn country, in areas such as security, foreign policy and domestic issues.
The cables show that at one point, Petraeus even forced the Iraqi government to raise the price of heavy fuel oil (HFO), leading nations such as Jordan and Syria to purchase such fuel from other sources.
