(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - "It has been one year and the regime did not fall, and it will not fall, and why should it fall?" Maliki told a news conference in Baghdad.
"We reject any arming (of Syrian rebels) and the process to overthrow the regime, because this will leave a greater crisis in the region," Maliki said.
It is Iraq's strongest statement yet on the Syria crisis, and is another attack on the position of hardline states including Qatar and Saudi Arabia that advocate arming the rebels and have called for Assad's departure.
Qatar sent a low-level delegation to a landmark Arab summit in Baghdad on Thursday, in what its premier said was a "message" to Baghdad.
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