Maliki told Bush to get his coat.

Maliki says he can "leave Iraq any time he wants."

Because of random killings, bombing civilian neighbourhoods and arming (his own) terrorists.

Iraq's prime minister has cast off US doubts over his government's military and political progress, saying Iraqi forces are capable and US troops can leave "any time they want".

Nuri al-Maliki's comments came on Saturday, after one of his aids accused US forces of committing human rights violations and arming "gangs of killers".

But he said, Iraqi police and soldiers could fill the void left by the departure of coalition forces.

"We say in full confidence that we are able, God willing, to take the responsibility completely in running the security file if the international forces withdraw at any time they want," he said.


Al-Maliki's adviser denounced the heavy use of arms by US troops against civilian areas as human rights violations.

He said US forces use methods that produce results fast, including "building walls, random killings, detentions in ways that are far from human rights and this embarrasses the government in front of its people".

"We cannot imagine that a neighbourhood is bombed with an excuse that 'we are searching for a terrorist,"' he said.