Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq’s Prime Minister, has admitted that he wishes his time in office was complete and that he has no desire to serve a second term heading the violence-plagued nation.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr Maliki, who has been accused of failing to deal with the sectarian tensions which have wrecked bloodshed across Iraq, also revealed his reluctance in initially accepting the top job, saying he decided to take it only after days of persuasion from fellow-Shia colleagues. "That decision for me was heavier than a mountain," he said.

Asked whether he would accept a second term in office, Mr Maliki replied: "Impossible.

"I wish I could be done with it 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," he said.

"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."

Mr Maliki, who gave the interview on Boxing Day - a week before the execution of Saddam Hussein - took office in March last year, with his cabinet installed and approved two months later.

A player in the Shia resistance during the Saddam-era, he was sworn in as a compromise option, after Sunni and ethnic Kurd factions rejected Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Shia coalition’s first choice contender.

But despite hopes of ending Iraq’s violence and bringing about gradual stability, Mr Maliki’s tenure has been undermined by the continuation of bloodshed, fuelled partly by ethnic divisions between the Shia majority and Sunni minority. Given the country’s volatile environment, it remains unclear whether his term - intended to be four years - will be cut short by a political shift in parliament.

The execution of Saddam has added to the Prime Minister’s troubles, with many Sunnis claiming the penalty was a means of exacting Shia revenge on their community.

In the interview, the Prime Minister was also critical of coalition and Iraqi forces, whom he accused of failing to respond quickly enough to insurgent attacks.

"The way the Iraqi army and the multinational forces operate now is very slow in taking a decision to react. This gives terrorists a chance to hit and run," he said.

"What is happening in Iraq is a war of gangs and a terrorist war. That is why it needs to be confronted with strong force and with fast reaction."

But despite his concerns, the Prime Minister insisted he would not be in office unless he believed that Iraq’s burden would eventually lift. Asked if he thought the blighted nation would achieve peace in his lifetime, he said: "I have a strong hope. If I didn’t have hope, I wouldn’t be here today."

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