Iraq parties rally for coalition after bloodshed (Reuters) Updated: 2006-03-03 11:02
Iraq's main political parties rallied behind efforts to form a national unity
coalition after another day of sectarian violence on Thursday that US and Iraqi
leaders fear could lead to civil war.
Iraqi policemen
look at the wreckage of vehicles after a bomb attack in Baghdad, March 1,
2006. [Reuters] |
But Sunni leaders said they were not dropping their demands that Shi'ite
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari step down.
Apparently fearing more trouble as Sunnis and Shi'ites head to their
respective mosques on the Muslim day of prayer, state television announced a new
daytime curfew on Baghdad on Friday, the second week running the authorities
have taken such action.
A bomb killed five people in a Shi'ite militia stronghold in the capital and
an attack on Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi cranked up tension building since
a bomb destroyed a Shi'ite shrine last week, sparking reprisals that have killed
hundreds.
Jaafari, under pressure over his performance in the crisis and from US
officials keen to see him bring minority Sunnis into government, hosted talks
with representatives of the main political blocs.
"We agreed to continue the dialogue among all the blocs," Jaafari ally Jawad
al-Maliki told a news conference after the meeting, which included the Sunni
Dulaimi, Kurds, other Shi'ites and secular leaders, and US and British
diplomats.
"Anything can be discussed at the negotiating table," Maliki said. "We have
no red lines on anything."
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