Puppet Iraq government and Syrian government

A reader yesterday sent me a link to the New York Times article in which an Iraqi puppet government spokesperson is quoted as urging Asad to step down.  I wrote back that the story is not true.  I know for a fact that the Iraqi puppet (very sectarian) government has been staunchly supporting the Asad regime.  Here is a followup: "The media advisor to Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki “absolutely” denied statements reported by The New York Times this week that the Iraqi government urged the Syrian president to step down."