“I don’t see a need for any other international forces to help Iraqis control the security situation,” he said.
His remarks, which cut across a wide range of issues, reflected the splinters that remained inside Iraq’s nascent partnership government, and Mr. Maliki’s attempts to subdue the competing interests of political groups that have coalesced around him.
Mr. Maliki, who first took office in 2006, also seemed to bristle at criticism directed at his government from various sectors, and pointedly suggested that his critics quiet down.
“It is a democracy to speak freely, and the media speak freely, and political blocs speak freely,” he said. “And maybe we have a democracy that exceeded limits.”
On American troop levels, Mr. Maliki is facing pressure from the followers of the anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who played a critical role in supporting Mr. Maliki for a second term after last March’s indecisive elections.
The Sadrists have promised to fight any attempt to maintain an American military presence in Iraq. Some American and Iraqi officials have argued that a residual force is necessary to continue training Iraqi soldiers and help maintain military equipment, but on Saturday, Mr. Maliki said the Iraqis could stand alone.
Iraqi officials announced Saturday that they had arrested 12 people over the last week who orchestrated a bloody siege against a Christian church here last month. They called the arrests evidence of improvements in the country’s security forces.
Interior Ministry officials said the insurgents had ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq, and had also planned to blow up the main gates of the International Zone, where the United States Embassy is located. Officials said they had seized 6 suicide belts, 10 improvised explosive devices and 5 tons of bomb-making material as a result of the arrests.
At his news conference, Mr. Maliki, a religious Shiite, said he wanted the new government to include his main rival, Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite and former Iraqi prime minister. But he indicated he would move forward even if Mr. Allawi was not on board.
“If we reach the critical area and we have to announce the government, we will go on with who is beside us, who wants to be a partner,” Mr. Maliki said.
Mr. Allawi’s Iraqiya coalition won support among Iraq’s Sunni minority and finished narrowly ahead of Mr. Maliki’s slate in the elections, but failed to build enough support to cobble together a majority in Parliament.
Mr. Allawi has sharply criticized the power-sharing deal, and members of Iraqiya said they would continue to look to Mr. Allawi on whether to remain a part of the coalition.
“He will decide if Iraqiya will be part of the government or not,” said Khadum Atya, a lawmaker from the bloc. “So if he will not join, we will be in an embarrassing situation, and we will go with what his desire is.”
Mr. Allawi has been offered a position leading a new strategic policy council, a consolation prize to bring him into the government and mollify his supporters. But he has not said whether he will accept the post, given uncertainties about whether the council will have actual powers over important security and economic policies, or merely be an advisory panel.
“It will be for someone else if he refuses,” Mr. Maliki said.
Under Iraq’s Constitution, Mr. Maliki has 30 days to cobble together a government that satisfies most demands of the country’s ethnic, religious and political factions.
He said he had sent letters asking the different coalitions for nominations for key government offices. He said he would choose his ministers based on “professionalism, qualification and integrity” and name his new government by Dec. 10 or 15.
Duraid Adnan and Zaid Thaker contributed reporting.
http://www.nytimes.com
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