Political Analyst: Ankara, Riyadh Hatching New Plots to Topple Maliki Gov’t

TEHRAN (FNA)- An Arab political analyst warned that the recent political turmoil in Iraq was the result of intensified attempts and new plots by Saudi Arabia and Turkey to overthrow the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Speaking to FNA in Baghdad on Saturday, Amir Mousavi said that countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and even Jordan are in pursuit of toppling the Baghdad government.

“The current moves in Iraq had been plotted even before the case of former Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi in a bid to wreak havoc on the country,” Mousavi said.

Mousavi noted that some regional countries are hoping to achieve their mischievous goals in Syria by creating a chaotic situation in Iraq’s al-Anbar province.

In similar remarks last week, a senior Iraqi legislator also warned against the plots hatched by Ankara against Baghdad, and said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought assistance of some Iraqi tribal leaders to wreak havoc on Iraq.

Speaking to FNA in Baghdad, Shakir al-Daraji said that he has found access to “some secret information indicating that Erdogan has invited some tribal leaders from (Iraq’s) al-Anbar province to direct Iraq’s current crisis in Turkey’s interest”.

“Turkey is trying to make use of the crisis which started after the recent apprehension of the Iraqi Finance Minister’s bodyguards in a bid to secure Turkey’s political and economic interests,” al-Daraji added.

The remarks came after Iraq, in a new upsurge of crisis, arrested the bodyguards of Iraq’s Finance Minister Rafie al-Essawi for several terrorist operations.

Essawi, a prominent member of the al-Iraqiya political bloc, however, told a news conference on Thursday that about 150 of his bodyguards and staff members were arrested after security forces raided the ministry and his home “in an illegal act”.

The head of the minister’s protection force has reportedly confessed and admitted taking part in terrorist attacks, including bombings and assassinations.

Al-Daraji reiterated that the Turkish government’s attempt is a serious threat to the security of Iraq and the region.

Earlier last week, another senior Iraqi legislator also warned against the plots hatched by Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia against his country, and called on his fellow citizens to be vigilant about such attempts.

Speaking to the Iraqi news website, al-Masalah, on Monday, Ezzat al-Shabandar called on the Iraqi government and the country’s national political forces to be vigilant about a big plot paving its way to Iraq from the Turkish and Saudi borders.

Al-Shabandar also lashed out at Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying that Erdogan should not think that Iraq is the backyard of his armed forces because Iraqis can protect themselves well.

Erdogan, who acts in line with the US and Saudi interests in Syria, is trying to make Baghdad change its stance on Damascus through exerting pressures on the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and making provocative statements in this regard.

On Sunday, Erdogan told the media that he travels to the US not only for Syria, but also because he has Iraq on his agenda.

ST