The website of the Iraqi Kurdish leader Masud Barzani says Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has "become hysterical" and should step down.
The website carried the statement in English on July 10 following remarks by Maliki accusing the autonomous region of harboring militants.
The website called on Maliki to "apologize to the Iraqi people" and give up his office.
"You have destroyed the country and someone who has destroyed the country cannot save the country from crises," it said.
Maliki charged on July 9 that the Kurdish regional capital, Irbil, harbors militants fighting his government, including from the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria last month.
Political tensions have risen between Maliki and Barzani as efforts to form a new parliament collapsed last week.
