Downing Street backs Iraqi PM

Number 10 has given the prime minister's backing to his Iraqi counterpart after he said he wanted to quit.

Nouri Maliki told the Wall Street Journal that he would not be seeking a second term of office and that, despite being only eight months in to a four-year term, he would like to leave now.

Maliki has struggled to contain sectarian violence in the country and, while his comments came ahead of the event, is now facing criticism for the way in which former dictator Saddam Hussein was executed at the weekend.

However a Downing Street spokeswoman said on Wednesday that: "The prime minister fully supports the prime minister of Iraq.

"He recognises he has a very difficult job to do and fully supports him in that role."

Tony Blair has faced criticism for failing to break from his holiday in Miami to condemn the handling of Saddam's execution, which his deputy John Prescott described as "deplorable".

And the spokeswoman insisted Prescott's remarks were "personal" comments which did not represent the government's view.

"The Iraqi government is going to conduct an inquiry into the manner in which the execution was conducted," she said.

"We fully support that decision and believe it is the right thing to do."

However she added that: "As they have said, there were obviously things that went wrong."