Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has uped his ante against neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Qatar by directly claiming that they are fuelling militancy in Iraq that has been ripped by a series of terrorist attacks since early last year after few years of relative calm. In an interview Maliki maintained that the mentioned nations have sort of declared war on Iraq by inciting sectarian attacks. He also accused them of supporting al-Qaeda. “They are attacking Iraq, through Syria and in a direct way, and they declared war on Iraq, as they declared it on Syria, and unfortunately it is on a sectarian and political basis,” Maliki insisted.