King Abdullah and Nuri al-Maliki

This chapter explores Saudi King Abdullah’s perception that Nuri al-Maliki, a Shia Islamist who became prime minister of Iraq in 2006, was an untrustworthy Iranian agent and therefore an enemy to Saudi Arabia. However, in contrast to Abdullah’s perception, an examination of Maliki’s background, as conducted in this chapter, demonstrates that he had never been particularly close to the Iranian regime. In fact, Zalmay Khalilzad, then the U.S. ambassador in Iraq, had decided to support Maliki’s bid for the premiership because, of the viable candidates, he had assessed that Maliki was the least susceptible to Iranian influence. Moreover, as a condition of his support, Khalilzad had obtained a promise from Maliki that as prime minister he would engage with Saudi Arabia. Maliki, for his part, wanted to engage with Saudi Arabia to reintegrate Iraq into the Arab fold and help quell Iraq’s sectarian conflict. Thus, on his first trip abroad as premier, Maliki traveled to the kingdom. The outcome of Maliki’s trip is closely examined in this chapter.