Baghdad, Jan 5 : Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said his country would file a lawsuit against US private security firm Blackwater over the killing of Iraqi civilians here two years ago.

Maliki has rejected a US judge's decision to drop charges against five Blackwater security guards who were involved in killing unarmed civilians at a crowded intersection in western Baghdad in 2007, Xinhua reported Tuesday.

Baghdad  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced on Thursday a new 40-party coalition to compete in the parliamentary elections next January.

Al-Maliki said that the Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law) list "includes a group of the finest people of Iraq, political, intellectual and tribal figures, expressing their faith in the unity of Iraq and to promote national unity."

Damascus  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Syria on Tuesday for security and economic talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The visit, which will tackle border security between the two countries, comes one week after a military US delegation visited Damascus to discuss curbing the crossing of foreign fighters into Iraq.

Baghdad and Washington have repeatedly accused Damascus of allowing fighters to cross into Iraq.

Baghdad - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday reached out to tribal leaders in the country's Sunni heartland, calling for an end to sectarian identity politics.

Al-Maliki, himself a Shiite Muslim, praised the Sunni tribesmen of Iraq's western al-Anbar province for their role in "maintaining the national unity of Iraq," and for "the great sacrifices" they had made in "battling the evil designs of wanted terrorists" who, he said, sought to divide the country.

Baghdad - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday vowed to enforce "a just punishment" for those convicted of the 1988 massacre of more than 5,000 Kurds in the northern Iraqi town of Halabja.

"We must not keep silent about the killing of the innocents in Halabja," al-Maliki said in a speech from the town. "We must restore the rights taken from them by the murderers and criminals."

Washington  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared security was improving and his country was ready to bring in foreign investment during a meeting with US business leaders on Friday.

In a speech before the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest US business association, al-Maliki said Iraq was in "dire need" of the expertise of foreign companies to help with its reconstruction.

Washington - US President Barack Obama called for greater reconciliation between Iraq's ethnic groups during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki at the White House on Wednesday.

Coming to agreements on contentious issues is essential to a unified Iraq and its stability in the future as US forces increasingly turn responsibility for security over to the Iraqis, Obama said.

Baghdad  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki left for the United States Tuesday, in his first official visit since US President Barack Obama came to office, a spokesman said.

"Al-Maliki was accompanied by a large delegation to meet with US President Barack Obama and Secretary General of the United Nations (Ban Ki-Moon)," a spokesman from the prime minister's office confirmed.

The prime minister "will discuss the latest developments in Iraq, US-Iraqi relations and investment opportunities for US companies in Iraqi reconstruction projects," the spokesman said.

Washington  - US President Barack Obama will meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki next week, following the pullout of US troops from Iraqi cities, the White House said Wednesday.

The two leaders will meet at the White House on July 22 to discuss the further reduction of US troops next year and the security environment, in addition to strengthening economic and cultural ties.

Baghdad  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will visit the US in two weeks, Baghdad's official al-Iraqia television station reported Sunday.

The prime minister will meet with US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a visit scheduled to begin July 21, the report said.

US Vice President Joe Biden visited Iraq last week, following the scheduled withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi towns and cities.

London - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will appeal to the international business community on Thursday for greater trade and investment in his country, at a major investors' conference in London.

Al-Maliki, at the head of a cabinet-level Iraqi delegation including oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani, is to meet first with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the morning, when a partnership agreement between the two countries is expected to be announced.

Baghdad - Iraqi Prime Minster Nuri al-Maliki is expected in London on Wednesday, the latest stop in his tour of Europe to drum up investment in his country, local media reported. The Iraqi premier, who is traveling at the head of high-level delegation of Iraqi ministers and senior officials, is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to strengthen Iraqi-British cooperation in a number fields, Baghdad's daily al-Sabah reported on Tuesday.

Baghdad - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday blamed a recent series of deadly bombings in Baghdad on cells of the Baath Party. Over the course of three days last week, eight car bombs struck Shiite districts of Baghdad, killing at least 51 people. The Baath Party, led by late dictator Saddam Hussein, was removed from power in Iraq in 2003 by the US-led invasion.

Moscow- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday in a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin requested greater investment by Russian firms in Iraq. According to the Interfax news agency, Putin agreed to help in the building of a "strong and independent Iraq."

In the first visit by an Iraqi prime minister to Moscow since the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein dictatorship, al-Maliki is also expected to visit Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Baghdad  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will visit Britain, France and Russia to encourage foreign investments in various sectors in Iraq, local media reported on Wednesday.

Iraqi member of parliament Sami al-Askari told Baghdad's al-Sabbah newspaper on Wednesday that al-Maliki will meet with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Al-Maliki will also attend a conference on investment in Iraq in London at the end of April, al-Askari told al-Sabbah. (dpa)

Arbil, Iraq - A Kurdish parliamentarian on Monday charged that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's description of Iraq as an Arab country was unconstitutional.

Al-Maliki told Arab leaders gathered in Doha, Qatar for the 21st Arab League summit that all Iraqis, regardless of their ethnicity or religion, were agreed that Iraq was an Arab country.

"Al-Maliki's statement ran contrary to the Iraqi constitution," Saad al-Barazanji, deputy head of the Kurdistani Alliance parliamentary bloc, told the Kurdish AKA news agency on Monday.

Doha  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, speaking at an Arab League summit in Qatar on Monday, said that divisions among Arab states "harm Iraq," and called on Arab countries to play a greater role in rebuilding Iraq.

"We call for the adoption of a common Arab strategy based on a partnership of all the Arab family," al-Maliki said. "We are against the policy of alliances which runs against a unified Arab position ... and harms Iraq."

Baghdad  - The Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Tuesday repeated its call for the execution of three officials from the former regime of Saddam Hussein for genocide, as a dispute over sentencing continued.

Former ministers Ali Hassan al-Majid and Sultan Hashem and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, a former army chief, were sentenced to death in 2007 for their part in the so-called Anfal campaign against Kurdish civilians and militia in 1988.

Baghdad - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday urged Iraqis to come together in a process of national reconciliation following Sunday's bombing in Baghdad, the deadliest the city has seen in months.

"National reconciliation must be an open door, through which all who believe ... in the political process can enter," al-Maliki told a gathering of branches of Iraq's prominent al-Abid tribe on Monday.

Baghdad  - A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki won a majority of seats in Iraq's Basra province and a near majority in the capital of Baghdad, Iraq's electoral commission announced on Thursday.

In the southern province of Basra, al-Maliki's State of Law coalition won 20 out of the province's 35 seats, Iraqi news agency the Voices of Iraq (VOI) reported.

The province, known for its oil, is an important victory for the Iraqi premier.