The Iraqi Prime Minister is facing public calls for his ousting from US military officers and senior senators on Capitol Hill, amid fears that he is incapable of forging political reconciliation among Iraq’s warring factions.

US regional commanders in Iraq and senior Democrats and Republicans in Washington believe that the military gains achieved by President Bush’s surge strategy in recent weeks will prove worthless unless Nouri al-Maliki is replaced.

Carl Levin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, returned from Iraq yesterday and declared the Maliki Government “non-functional”. He added: “I hope the Parliament will vote the Maliki Government out of office and will have the wisdom to replace it with a less-sectarian and more-unifying prime minister and government.”

Although a long-time opponent of Mr Bush and the war, Mr Levin’s comments were given considerable bipartisan weight as they came after a joint report on Iraq that he released with John Warner, his widely respected counterpart on the Armed Services Committee and a key Republican voice on the war.

Both men, who have just completed a three-day trip to Iraq and Jordan, were pessimistic about Iraq’s political future. Their statement referred to recent meetings between Mr al-Maliki and other Iraqi political leaders as “the last chance for this Government to solve the Iraqi political crisis”. They questioned if the the current Iraqi leadership was willing “to shed sectarian biases and act in a unifying manner”.

They suggested that should Mr al-Maliki’s Government “fail” to solve the country’s political crisis, “the Iraqi people need to judge the Government of Iraq’s record and determine what actions should be taken — consistent with the Iraqi Constitution — to form a true unity government to meet those responsibilities.”

The senators’ concerns reflect a growing political consensus in Washington that the surge is showing military progress, but that the security “breathing space” it was aimed at buying for Iraq’s politicians to make political progress is being squandered.

Of more concern for Mr Bush, who still voices his full support for Mr al-Maliki, is growing dissent among US military commanders about the Iraqi leadership. General George Casey, the Army Chief of Staff who was the top US commander in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, spent several days last week meeting with US military regional commanders. He said he was taken aback by anti-Maliki sentiment.

“I heard more people talk about Maliki not making it through his full term in two days than I had heard in all of my previous time here,” General Casey told The Wall Street Journal. “There’s a frustration with his inability to be a reconciliation leader, and a fear that the momentum generated by the surge could just be frittered away.”

He added: “It would be a huge shame if, after all the military has accomplished with the surge, we don’t get a political accommodation. I’m not optimistic.”

General David Petraeus, the US ground commander in charge of the surge, is expected to voice his support for Mr al-Maliki in his progress report to Congress, which will will probably be delivered on September 11, the sixth anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks on the United States.

The dilemma in Washington is that, should Mr al-Maliki fall, there is no clear replacement. Moreover, any perception in Iraq that Mr al-Maliki was ousted because of pressure from Washington would be the “kiss of death” for any successor, said Dick Durbin, another senior Senate Democrat recently returned from Iraq.

“Imagine if we have to step in with a brand new leader and a new government,” Mr Durbin said. “How many more months would we have to wait?”

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Afghanistan News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• 'Radio Rancid' is scourge of Obama
• French gulp as global warming alters wines
• Colton, the barefoot boy bandit, outfoxes sheriffs