France calls for new Iraq prime minister

France calls for new Iraq prime minister

By Peter Allen in Paris

Last Updated: 1:16am BST 27/08/2007

France's foreign minister risked fracturing his country's new relationship with America yesterday, by calling for Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, to be replaced.

France calls for Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, to be replaced

Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister

In an interview published in the American magazine Newsweek, Bernard Kouchner, who visited Baghdad last week, said: "I just had (Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State) on the phone 10 or 15 minutes ago, and I told her, 'Listen, he's got to be replaced'.

"Many people believe the prime minister ought to be changed. I don't know if that will go through though, because it seems President [George W] Bush is attached to Mr Maliki. But the government is not functioning," said Mr Kouchner.

Last week, President Bush defended the record of Mr Maliki, calling him "a good guy, a good man with a difficult job and I support him."

Mr Bush had however earlier expressed his "frustration" with Mr Maliki and his failure to unite sectarian factions within the government, while several prominent US senators have called for Iraq's parliament to vote him out, raising the pressure on the prime minister.

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President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to stand behind his foreign secretary's latest remarks in Paris today when he addresses ambassadors in Paris to outline a more assertive role for France on the world stage.

He told a cabinet meeting on Friday: "France must be present in Iraq, France must be present in countries throughout the Arab world. She must have a foreign policy that shows international influence."

Since taking office in May, Mr Sarkozy has been active on the diplomatic front, shifting from the stance of his predecessor Jacques Chirac, who had been the most vocal opponent of Mr Bush's Iraq policy.

The 52-year-old French leader is widely seen as pro-American, spending a two-week holiday at a lakeside resort in the state of New Hampshire this month.

During his stay he held what the White House described as a "he

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