The long-running U.S. project to dump Prime Minister Maliki in Iraq is gaining momentum again. It comes at a time when the Iraqis themselves are taking steps to organize a replacement government for Iraq, one that could cross Sunni-Shiite lines. (See entry below on the possibility of a Sunni-Shiite bloc emerging to oppose Maliki and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.)

The AP carries a report today saying that Maliki has been told by the Americans that he must form a government acceptable to Iraq’s Sunnis and to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. And it notes this startling news: that former Prime Minister Allawi, the secular Shiite who heads the Iraq National List, and Kurdish warlord Massoud Barzani are both in Saudi Arabia, where they are talking about an alliance to get rid of Maliki. (Last week, Allawi went up to the Kurdish region to see Barzani, accompanied by Ambassador Khalilzad.)

This ought to be seen as a U.S.-inspired effort to form an anti-Iran government in Iraq. Interestingly it occurs while President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, is sidelined with an illness. Talabani, much more than Barzani, is close to Iran – and to Maliki.

According to AP, the U.S. has given Maliki a June 30 deadline. Here are some excerpts from the AP report:

Al-Maliki associates told AP, American officials have informed the prime minister they want an Iraqi government in place by year's end that would be acceptable to Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.

"They have said it must be secular and inclusive," one al-Maliki associate said. …

Compounding al-Maliki's fears about a withdrawal of American support were visits to Saudi Arabia by two key political figures in an admitted bid to win support for a major Iraqi political realignment. Saudi Arabia is a major U.S. ally and oil supplier.

Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a Shiite, arrived in the Saudi capital Tuesday. Masoud Barzani, leader of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region, flew in a day earlier. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims.

"Allawi is there to enlist support for a new political front that rises above sectarian structures now in place," the former prime minister's spokesman Izzat al-Shahbandar told AP.

Barzani spokesman Abdul-Khaleq Zanganah said the two had met in Kurdistan before traveling to Saudi Arabia for talks on forming a "national front to take over for the political bloc now supporting al-Maliki." …

The al-Maliki associates said U.S. officials, who they would not name, had told the prime minister that President Bush was committed to the current government but that continued White House support depended on positive action on all the benchmarks — especially the oil law and sectarian reconciliation — by the close of this parliamentary session on June 30.

Allawi, long a U.S. favorite, isn't necessarily playing Washington's game entirely. A top official of Allawi's National List party blasted the new Iraq oil law, which is a U.S. priority, on the grounds that it pushes Iraq toward partition and hands Iraq's national treasure to foreign oil companies:

The draft oil and gas law could lead to the “partition of Iraq” and the dissipation of its wealth, said Usama al-Najifi, former minister of industry and current member of parliament in the opposition Iraqi National List.

Najifi said, “The oil law project in the form as sent to parliament is very dangerous, and in it is the partition of Iraq and the dissipation of its riches”

In remarks to German media, relayed in Arabic in Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Najifi said that "the oil law project is in need of extensive study and complete review,” calling for postponement of the discussion until after the departure of the US occupation, and the realization of the “appropriate conditions for discussion” of the law.

Al-Najifi also added that the law’s provision for foreign companies to conclude contracts with Iraq’s provinces would lead to the “control of those companies over Iraq’s wealth.”

Allawi has also indicated his intent to visit Egypt, Syria, and other Arab countries, as well as Iran, to build support for his proposed coalition. According Asharq Alawsat newspaper, he blasted the Maliki regime as hopelessly sectarian:

In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat conducted with him during his visit to Kuwait, where he was accompanied by a delegation from Al-Iraqiyah List, Allawi said, "This government does not represent me as a Shiite nor the Shiites in Iraq as much as it represents the politicized Shiites. We warned before and continue to warn that political sectarianism will impede and thwart the government's work as it will impede and thwart the unity of Iraqi society." He asserted that the "the Kurdish-Sunni-Shiite division is the most dangerous thing facing Iraq and is lethal to it." He proposed the alternative of the "Iraqi national approach that believes in pluralism and the diversity of Iraqi society and gives the rights voluntarily to all the people's sectors without sectarian or factional tyranny."

And Allawi's spokesman confirmed that that Allawi-Barzani visit to Saudi Arabia was coordinated with Khalilzad (which is unfortunate, since it brands the effort as American-inspired):

Asked if Allawi's visit to Riyadh just one night after Barzani's arrival there was coordinated beforehand or not, Al-Shabandar said: "I believe that this visit was coordinated so as to have both Allawi and President Barzani in Riyadh. This coordination was made during Allawi's visit to the Kurdistan region with US Ambassador in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad before the start of the Gulf tour so as to be within the framework of the joint efforts of Dr. Allawi and President Barzani to back the Iraqi national plan."