Paper backs off of Maliki-Petraeus row

Telegraph:

America's top general in Iraq yesterday quashed reports of a breakdown in his relationship with Iraq's prime minister over American support for Sunni Muslim fighters battling al-Qa'eda.

General David Petraeus poured scorn on a claim by an Iraqi politician that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki requested his dismissal after bitter rows. "I don't know where that is coming from," Gen Petraeus said. "He and I have truly had frank conversations but he has never yelled or stood up. This is really, really hard stuff, and occasionally people agree to disagree."

...

Reports that the Shia Muslim Iraqi leadership opposes the strategy have circulated in Baghdad. The government is said to fear the policy is a backdoor route to arming Sunnis fighting Shia militias for territory.

...

I think they are admitting that the earlier report was based on a rumor.

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