DAMASCUS, Syria — Iraq's prime minister lashed out today at U.S. criticism, saying no one has the right to impose timetables on his elected government and that his country "can find friends elsewhere."

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed the U.S. presidential campaign for the recent tough words about his government, from President Bush and from other U.S. politicians.

Bush on Tuesday said he was frustrated with Iraqi leaders' inability to bridge political divisions. But he added that only the Iraqi people can decide whether to sideline al-Maliki.

Al-Maliki reacted harshly when asked about the recent comments from U.S. officials.

"No one has the right to place timetables on the Iraq government. It was elected by its people," he said in Damascus at the end of the three-day visit to Syria.

XINTAI, China — A Chinese Cabinet minister sought today to portray a mining accident that left 181 miners trapped and presumed dead as a natural disaster, deflecting criticism that more could have been done to save the workers.The miners — 172 in a mine belonging to the Huayuan Mine Co. and nine in a smaller nearby mine — have been trapped since Friday afternoon when heavy rains undermined a river dike.But questions have been raised about why Huayuan sent miners into the nearly 3,300-foot-deep shaft as the flooding threat grew — and other mines in the area closed."The disaster was caused by heavy rain, not problems within the mine," Civil Affairs Minister Li Xueju said."'Sometimes the alert system may not be timely or accurate enough. They did not imagine the rain would be so heavy and they did not imagine that the river bank would leak," he said.

MADRID, Spain — A shark that was captured in shallow waters where it had become a daily lure for tourists on a beach died today at the Barcelona Aquarium.Biologists had said they did not expect the 7-foot female sandbar shark to survive because it stopped swimming after being brought to the aquarium on Monday.Biologists captured the 200-pound shark Monday in knee-high water at a beach called Miracle in northeast Tarragona province.The shark first turned up early last week and became a novelty by swimming regularly into plain view in very shallow water. Authorities closed the beach to bathers.