'BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister will deliver a blunt message to fellow Shi'ite Islamists in Tehran on Tuesday that they should not interfere in Iraq's affairs.
It is a message that may please Nuri al-Maliki's sponsors in the United States, who accuse Iran of funding and training militants fighting U.S. forces in Iraq, possibly in response to mounting U.S. pressure on Tehran to halt its nuclear program.
Maliki's spokesman told Reuters Iraqis no longer wanted to suffer for "messages between the United States and Iran".
While officially encouraging Iraq's new, warm ties to Washington's adversary, there is unease in the United States at Iranian influence over the Shi'ite leaders brought to power in elections that followed the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Since forming a national unity government four months ago, Maliki has vowed to curb militant Shi'ite factions, some of whom also have links with movements in Iran, as part of efforts to avert civil war with Saddam's once-dominant Sunni minority.'
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-12T010129Z_01_GEO743062_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C3-worldNews-2
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