"I believe that such information is not true and exaggerated," Maliki said at a joint news conference with US President George W Bush, when asked about Iranian influence in his war-ravaged country.

"Yes there is interference but the talk about influence is not true," he said.

Maliki said Iraq favours "good bilateral relations with all our neighbours as well as ties that complete one another in order to protect the region from tensions".

"But all this must be based on respect for Iraq's borders and non-interference in its internal affairs," he stressed.

He also warned that Iraq will never allow any foreign control of his war-wracked country.