Iraqi PM Al-Maliki: Saudi Arabia and Qatar Have Declared War of Terrorism against Iraq

In a TV interview, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said that Saudi Arabia and Qatar "declared war on Iraq, just as they have declared war on Syria." According to Al-Maliki, the two countries were "spurring on" organizations like Al-Qaeda and Jabhat Al-Nusra, providing them with political, financial, and media support and buying weapons for them.

Following are excerpts from the interview, which aired on France 24 TV and was posted on the Internet on March 8, 2014:

Nouri Al-Maliki: Violance and terror have returned to Iraq because of the crisis in Syria. The crisis in Syria expanded because of the positions adopted by the EU, by the American, and by the Arab countries. They disregard the danger of the presence of Al-Qaeda and Jabhat Al-Nusra in Syria, and therefore, they declared their support for the opposition, which they considered an alternative to Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.

Then, they began to suspect that it is not a viable alternative. Indeed, the Syrian people have the right to choose the alternative, but these people are terrorists, murderers, and criminals. The world was wrong to provide them with weapons and support.

We are closely following statements by some European countries that declare that they are providing weapons to the opposition. These weapons are not going to the opposition, but to Al-Qaeda and Jabhat Al-Nusra, and through these organizations, the weapons are entering Iraq.

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We have killed and captured many foreign nationals – from Arab and Islamic countries, and even Jihadi volunteers from European countries – who were fighting alongside Al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as they do in Syria.

Interviewer: Let’s talk about the role played by Saudi Arabia and Qatar in Iraq and in Syria. What exactly are you accusing these two countries of?

Nouri Al-Maliki: They are spurring on these organizations, providing them with political and media support, as well as generous financial support, and buying weapons for these terrorist organizations. They have declared war on the political system in Iraq, and they are sheltering the leaders of the terrorists of Al-Qaeda, the sectarians, and the takfiris. They provide them with unlimited support – political support, support through the media, through takfiri fatwas, and through the recruitment of Jihadists.

Who brought these people from Belgium, France, and other European countries? They were brought here by committees formed by Saudi Arabia, in order to recruit these Jihadists to fight in Iraq. At a time when Saudi Arabia issues a decree forbidding Saudis from going to Iraq or Syria, the Saudis are recruiting people from the Arab Maghreb and European countries.

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Saudi Arabia and Qatar are attacking Iraq both directly and indirectly and through Syria. Indeed, they have declared war on Iraq, just as they have declared war on Syria. Unfortunately, they are motivated by sectarianism and politics at the same time.

These countries fear that Iraq might become strong again. We have the potential of becoming powerful. Therefore, they are employing all their financial means to weaken Iraq. Therefore, the responsibility for Iraq’s security crisis of sectarianism and terror lies mainly with these two countries.

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We do not wish to escalate the confrontation, but we are telling them that they should be wary, because their support of terrorism might boomerang back to them. After all, their social fabric too is vulnerable to the flames of sectarian strife. We expect Saudi Arabia and Qatar to change their attitudes with calm.

We are capable of taking counter-measures, but we do not wish to do so, because that would escalate the strife in the region. To date, we have not taken any counter-measure against these countries. We have done nothing but highlight the error of their ways, and implore the world to exert pressure so that they stop their support of terrorism. We hope that [Saudi Arabia and Qatar] reconsider this policy, because they will not be immune to its repercussions and to terrorist strikes.

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Interviewer: You were recently accused by an Iraqi politician who resigned from politics, Muqtada Al-Sadr, of being a tyrant and a dictator.

Nouri Al-Maliki: What Muqtada Al-Sadr says is not worthy of comment. Ask me about someone else. He is a newcomer to politics and does not know the first thing about it.

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