Iraqi leader critical of U.S. envoy

BAGHDAD — A festering grievance between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the United States escalated yesterday with Mr. al-Maliki telling President Bush that America’s ambassador in Baghdad acts like a viceroy instead of a diplomat.

Hassan al-Suneid, a member of Mr. al-Maliki’s inner circle, said a hastily arranged videoconference with the president was needed because issues needed airing at a higher level than with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.

Mr. al-Suneid also said the prime minister complained to Mr. Bush that Mr. Khalilzad, an Afghan-born Sunni Muslim, was treating the Shi’ite Mr. al-Maliki imperiously.

“The U.S. ambassador is not [L. Paul] Bremer. He does not have a free rein to do what he likes. Khalilzad must not behave like Bremer, but rather like an ambassador,” Mr. al-Suneid quoted Mr. al-Maliki as telling the president. Mr. Bremer had the power to make laws by decree, many of which are still in force today.

The exchange punctuated one of the bloodiest months since the U.S. invasion.

The military announced yesterday that a Marine died from wounds in Anbar province on Friday, bringing the U.S. death toll so far this month in Iraq to 98, the highest since January 2005.

Since the summer, Iraqis have been dying at a rate of about 3,000 a month, prompting Mr. al-Maliki’s government this month to stop releasing body counts to the United Nations.

Mr. Bush’s Republican Party faces possible loss of control of Congress in the Nov. 7 elections, with dismay over his Iraq policy a critical factor in voter intentions.

White House spokesman Tony Snow dismissed talk of a rift between Iraq’s leader and the United States.

“There are no strains in the relationship,” Mr. Snow told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base after the 50-minute videoconference.

Mr. Snow said that Mr. Bush told Mr. al-Maliki not to worry about U.S. politics “because we are with you, and we are going to be with you.”

Yesterday marked the fourth time in a week that Mr. al-Maliki challenged the U.S. handling of the war. The ripostes flowed from an announcement by Mr. Khalilzad on Tuesday that Mr. al-Maliki had agreed to a U.S. plan to set timelines for progress in quelling violence in Iraq.

Mr. al-Suneid, however, said Mr. al-Maliki was intentionally using the displeasure of American voters over Mr. Bush’s handling of the war to strengthen his position.

“It’s al-Maliki’s chance to get what he wants. It’s a chance for al-Maliki to force a better deal for himself,” he said.

Mr. al-Suneid said Mr. Bush accepted Iraq’s position that a renewal of the U.N. mandate for the U.S.-led military force was conditional on swift action to hand full control of the Iraqi army to the Baghdad government and the withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraqi cities and towns when the army is ready to take control.

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