Al-Maliki, on his second visit to Iran this year, was to meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later on Sunday in talks expected to focus on the security pact, which Washington and Baghdad hope to finish by mid-summer.An aide to al-Maliki said the prime minister is offering assurances in the talks that the US presence in his country is no threat to Iran. But he will also complain about Iran's public campaign against the agreement, as interference in Iraq's internal affairs, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity in return for giving information on the private talks.
In another issue riling ties between Baghdad and Tehran, al-Maliki -- who is Shiite -- is also like to raise once more the US allegations that Iran is arming, funding and training Shiite militiamen in Iraq. Iran has denied the charges, saying it supports Iraq's security and stability.
On Sunday, the US military in Iraq said it had captured a Shiite militant who ran an "assassination squad" in the southern city of Basra and was responsible from trafficking Shiite extremists in and out of Iran.
Al-Maliki's government has always been an ally of Tehran, and the Shiite and Kurdish parties that dominate it have longstanding close ties with the Iranian leadership.
Benzer Haberler 
World
