Iraqi premier in stinging attack on Hillary Clinton

Iraq’s beleaguered prime minister today lashed out at American critics who have called for his removal, saying Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Carl Levin need to “come to their senses”.

Nouri Maliki, who is fighting to hold his government together, issued a series of stinging ripostes against a variety of foreign officials who recently have spoken negatively about his leadership. But those directed at Democrats Clinton, of New York, and Levin, of Michigan, were most strident.

“There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin. They should come to their senses,” Maliki said at a news conference.