In an astonishing outburst Iraq's President Jalal Talabani says he will start supporting the Syrian, Turkish and Iranian opposition unless those countries stop "interfering in Iraq's affairs".

"The Iraqi people will respond in the same way, we'll support the opposition of other countries, will try to make trouble for them as they are doing for us," he said.

It is a marked contrast to former Iraqi President Iyad Allawi, who has always been close to Syria. He and current Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki were based in Syria during their long years of exile from Saddam.

It's the third controversial statement Talabani has made in recent days. Earlier he asked for at least two permanent US bases in Iraq, and 10,000 US troops to be based there. And he called on Kurds in northern Iraq to pull down the Iraqi flag and replace it with the Kurdish flag on public buildings. Interesting statement from the President of the state. I wonder how Americans would respond if Bush told Texans to pull down the American flag.