Iraqi leader asks insurgents to join political process

[maddezmom]

Thousands of Shiite worshippers gather around the Imam Mahdi shrine in Karbala, 09 September. Iraq delayed a parliamentary debate on dividing the war-torn country into autonomous regions amid splits within the dominant Shiite bloc and stiff opposition from Sunni Arabs.(AFP/File/Ahmad al-Rubaye)


Vice president says it's not too late to stop spiraling sectarian conflict, 'as the rules of the game have been changed'
By Elena Becatoros
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president renewed his call for Sunni-led insurgents to quickly join the Shiite prime minister's national reconciliation effort, while a Shiite festival that drew millions of pilgrims was held without bloodshed Saturday.

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During a meeting with community leaders from a predominantly Sunni Arab district in Baghdad, Vice President Tariq Hashimi said it was not too late to stop spiraling sectarian conflict, "as the rules of the game have been changed and problems can't be solved only by weapons."

"This is a call for the Iraqi resistance to think ... and sit around the negotiating table before it's too late," he told about 100 people at Islamic University in the Azamiyah neighborhood. "Differences will devastate Iraq and this division is not to our benefit."

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The plan includes an offer of amnesty to members of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency not involved in terrorist activities, and calls for disarming primarily Shiite sectarian militias.

But no major Sunni Arab insurgent group has publicly agreed to join the plan, and many Shiite militias are controlled by legislators themselves.


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