Najaf,(Iraq): Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has dismissed US warnings to shun sectarianism. He snubbed the Americans, saying Iraqis did not need another country to tell them what they already know.
US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad's threats to stop US funding if violence continued were echoed by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
The ambassador's warning was followed by a bomb blast in the southern Dora district, the bloodiest in six weeks.
Al-Jaafari said, "Those who have objections against me should present their reasons. We have been elected by the people." He said that the formation of a new government faced "obstacles".
The day before, three bombings killed 19 people in the Capital. Jaafari said he would not allow anybody to interfere in Iraq's affairs.
Al-Jaafari hopes to form a national unity government that groups his Shiite alliance, Kurdish parties and two Sunni parties, which won a total of 55 seats in the December 15 election.
But he added that he hoped the formation of the government would not take as long as it did last time, when his first government took office three months after the previous general election on January 30, 2005.
(With AP inputs)
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