A NEW rift opened between the Iraqi Prime Minister and his US backers yesterday when he bridled at American diplomatic and military tactics. Nouri al-Maliki, anxious to prove he is not a US puppet, criticised a heavy-handed US raid on the Shia militia stronghold in Sadr City, made without his knowledge. He also repudiated the US assertion 24 hours earlier that his Government has 12 months to quell Iraq’s nascent civil war. Full Story