Iraq's top Sunni cleric called on the United States on Monday to cut ties with Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, saying his "puppet" government had failed and a US backed political process was at a dead end.
"If the Americans remain with this policy and rely on the same men who proved their failure again and again then they will leave Iraq in failure," Sheikh Harith al-Dari told Reuters.
"The US administration should rectify its position in Iraq and stop depending on puppets... who have proven their failure," the leader of Iraq's Muslim Clerics Association said in an interview in Amman.
Maliki's unity government, set up to try to ease sectarian tensions and quell violence, has been in crisis since the main Sunni Arab bloc quit early this month and he wants political leaders to meet in coming days to resolve the deadlock.
Dari, whose association groups Iraq's Sunni religious leaders, said Washington had brought untold suffering on Iraq's people during its four-year-old occupation and it should now try to foster a non-partisan government. The cleric, who has praised Sunni insurgent groups but denies direct links, said Washington also needed to rebuild the army on non-sectarian grounds.
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