Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki acknowledged he was "part of the problem" holding up the formation of a new Iraq government but challenged allies and opponents to find a better candidate for the top job. Five months after an election Iraqis hoped would underpin governance, Maliki told Reuters Iraq's security was stable and said investor confidence had not been shaken by lengthy and so far fruitless talks for a coalition government.
But he said that his opponents were attempting to weaken the premiership and said this could destabilise Iraq and bring back militants linked to al Qaeda as well as the militias that were involved in Iraq's sectarian slaughter in 2006-07.
A March 7 parliamentary election produced no clear winner, leaving the Shia Maliki and secularist ex-Prime Minister Iyad Allawi battling to form a majority coalition as Iraq tries to ramp up production from its world-class oil reserves and rebuild an economy ravaged by war.
"They are saying there is a broad objection to Maliki. But I know that there will be greater objections to (other) candidates," he told Reuters in an interview on Friday. "Yes, I am part of the problem but I didn't create the problem," he said. "I want to solve the problem." Maliki's largely Shia State of Law coalition won two seats fewer than Allawi's Sunni-backed, cross-sectarian Iraqiya in the vote but then merged with the third-place finisher, the Iran-friendly Iraqi National Alliance, to form a Shia bloc.