al-Maliki: 'I wish my term was over'

Asked whether he would accept a second term in office, Mr Maliki replied: "Impossible.

"I wish I could be done with it even before the end of this term. I would like to serve my people from outside the circle of senior officials, maybe through the parliament or through working directly with the people," he said.

"I didn’t want to take this position. I only agreed because I thought it would serve the national interest, and I will not accept it again."

Those admissions are sure to evoke accusations of 'weakness' from Washington but perhaps al-Maliki has finally accepted the fact that he is nothing but a puppet who has no control over what happens in his country as he was very publicly reminded by the recent leak of the Hadley memo that was highly critical of the prime minister.