Iraq's prime minister has told a U.S. newspaper he will not seek a second term and wishes he could leave the job early.

In an interview published Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal, Nouri al-Maliki said he wished to leave the post before the end of his four-year term.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks at a reconciliation conference in Baghdad last month.
(Ceerwan Aziz/Associated Press)

"I wish it could be done with even before the end of this term. I would like to serve my people from outside the circle of senior officials, maybe through the parliament, or through working directly with the people," Maliki told the newspaper.

"I didn't want to take this position. I only agreed because I thought it would serve the national interest, and I will not accept it again," he said.

Al-Maliki, a Shia resistance leader during the Sunni-dominated regime of Saddam Hussein, was sworn to office in May as a compromise candidate to lead a national unity cabinet of of Shia, Sunni and Kurdish parties.

Term marked by violence, strained U.S. relations

His term in office has been marked by some of the worst sectarian violence in the country since the U.S.-led invasion started in early 2003.

In the interview, which took place Dec. 24, al-Maliki criticized U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq and the slow pace of the development of the Iraqi army, said Reuters.

The Iraqi leader has had a shaky relationship with the United States.

In November, a planned meeting between al-Maliki and U.S. President George W. Bush was postponed after a leaked White House memo raised doubts about the Iraqi leader's ability to clamp down on spiralling sectarian violence.

The meeting went ahead the next day, as Bush praised al-Maliki's strong leadership skills.

In October, an aide to the prime minister said al-Maliki told the U.S. ambassador that he was Washington's friend but "not America's man in Iraq," said a report.

Al-Maliki gave the interview days before Saddam Hussein was executed. Grainy video of the death by hanging has been leaked on the internet, showing Saddam being taunted as he went to the gallows.

On Tuesday, al-Maliki launched an investigation into how the execution was carried out after minority Sunnis charged the death was retribution by majority Shias.