KUWAIT: Qatar signaled its irritation on Tuesday with Iraq’s accusation that it backed insurgents fighting Baghdad’s rule, saying it was not appropriate for countries which failed to preserve national unity to accuse other Arab states of supporting “terrorism.”

The comments by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani were the first official Qatari reaction after Iraq’s Shiite Prime Minister, Nuri Al-Maliki, this month accused Doha and Riyadh of funding insurgency.

Without naming Al-Maliki, Tamim criticized what he said were attempts to sideline entire segments of that Arab nation, a reference to Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority. His criticism of Iraq’s government follow recent comments by Al-Maliki in which he accused Qatar of supporting militants in Iraq.

“It’s about time for Iraq to emerge from the vicious circle of violence and differences. That cannot come about through the sidelining of entire society segments or accusing them of terrorism if they demand equality and inclusion,” he said.

“It is not appropriate that those who fail to preserve national unity to accuse other Arab countries of supporting terrorism in their country,” he told fellow heads of state and government at the opening session of an Arab summit in Kuwait.

Violence in Iraq has worsened in the past year, with ISIL launching a particularly devastating bombing campaign mid-2013.

Vice President Khudeir Al-Khuzaie, a Shiite, was representing Iraq in the summit.

Tamim also called on Egypt to start a “political dialogue,” an implicit criticism of the crackdown there against the Muslim Brotherhood.