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Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has thanked the United States for ousting former dictator Saddam Hussein and hailed the "new Iraq that is emerging from the ashes of dictatorship."
Addressing a joint session of the US Congress Wednesday, amid growing doubts among some lawmakers about his leadership, Maliki expressed his gratitude for the continued US military presence in Iraq.
"Thank you for your continued resolve in helping us fight the terrorists plaguing Iraq, which is a struggle to defend our nascent democracy and our people, who aspire to liberty, democracy, human rights and the rule of law," he told lawmakers and dignitaries assembled in the House of Representatives chamber.
The Iraqi leader cast the ongoing sectarian violence raging across his country as an Islamic religious battle.
"This is a battle between two Islams, for which a person's liberty and rights constitute essential cornerstones, and terrorism, which wraps itself in a fake Islamic cloak," he said.
"Iraq is the frontline in this struggle, and history will prove that the sacrifices of Iraqis for freedom will not be in vain," he said.
To those who have called for an early withdrawal of US troops, Maliki said that the futures of both countries are inextricably linked.
"The fate of our country and yours is tied. Should democracy be allowed to fail in Iraq and terror permitted to triumph, then the war on terror will never be won elsewhere," he said.
The address was briefly interrupted by a female protester, who was removed from the House chamber after calling for US troops to be brought home from Iraq.