Ayad Allawi told Al-Sharqiya TV: “The Iranian regime controls many of the power levers in Iraq and controls our political decisions. I once told the Iranian ambassador in the presence of others that they will never be able to swallow Iraq.”
Mr Allawi demanded the release of prisoners, the ridding of militia from the streets and end to accusations against protesters to prepare the way for the next election.
He warned: “If the situation remains as it is, Iraq will move closer to anarchy which will endanger its whole existence.
“Regardless of how Maliki resorts to the illegal and illegitimate abuses his powers as PM and the Commander in Chief of the armed forces to crush people, he will not succeed.”
Fellow al-Iraqiya MP Ahmad Alwani warned Malaki against sending Iraqi units to fight alongside Assad’s troops against the Syrian people.
He said: “This will cause problems for the Syrian people and neighbouring countries.
“The formation of military units on Iraqi soil to fight alongside Syrian troops, and the government’s silence about this, suggests that they are turning a blind eye this activity, just as they turned a blind eye to other kidnappings and killings which of a sectarian nature.”
His comments come after claims that Nouri al-Maliki has sent paramilitary units to Syria under the banner of protecting Shia shrines there.
Al-Sharqiya TV also reported that the Alnasr Brigade and Najba groups had formed militias into military units to guard holy shrines in Iraq and Syria. Manhad Alkhatib. A spokesman for the Najba army had confirmed that their forces had been dispatched to Syria, the TV channel said.
Meanwhile Iran’s state-run Fars news agency reported on June 3 that a nephew of Iraqi PM al-Maliki had been killed fighting in Syria.
Fars published a message of condolence sent by mullah Lotfallah Safi Golpayegani to Maliki on the ‘martyrdom’ of his nephew ‘defending’ holy sites in Syria.
During the past two weeks, the bodies of a number of Iraqis killed fighting in Syria alongside Bashar al-Assad’s forces have been returned to Iraq, according to reports by other news agencies.