Perspective: Nuri al-Maliki indepth -- The story of the man with 'the hardest job in the world'

BAGHDAD — They killed more than 60 members of his extended family. They murdered even more of his friends. They issued a death warrant for him.
For most of his life, Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite Arab, says he has been persecuted and hunted by the Sunnis who dominated the government of Saddam Hussein.

Now, as Iraq's prime minister, al-Maliki must make peace between the two bitterly divided Muslim factions. President Bush has said that al-Maliki's ability to do that, and to shift responsibility from U.S. forces to Iraq's military and police, may determine the nation's fate.

"The prime minister has perhaps the hardest job in the world," says Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

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