Maliki urges tribal leaders to help unite Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged tribal leaders yesterday to unite to end bloodshed between Sunnis and Shi'ites that has raised fears of civil war, as at least 14 people were killed in sectarian raids.

"Iraq needs all of its sons during this stage. There is no difference between Shi'ite and Sunni, Arab and Kurd, Turkman and Assyrian," Maliki told hundreds of tribal leaders in Baghdad.

The gathering was the first in a series to promote dialogue under his national reconciliation programme. The United States says a major security crackdown by Iraqi and US troops in Baghdad, where the bloodshed is worst, is not a durable solution to Iraq's instability and must be accompanied by movement on the political front.

As tribal chieftains dressed in traditional robes met in a hotel in the capital, a Sunni Arab legislator was freed nearly two months after her kidnapping sparked a political furore.

A member of her Iraqi Islamic Party said Taiseer Najah al-Mashhadani was released after her captors made contact with Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. Some Sunni leaders had accused Shi'ite Muslim militias of being behind the abduction.

Maliki, a Shi'ite, said his national reconciliation plan was a "wide door" open to all those who wanted to take part in rebuilding the country.

"The liberation of the nation from any foreign hand cannot be without national unity, the unity that our forefathers built during hundreds of years," he said.

The government hopes the leaders can exercise influence over their tribes, but it is unclear how effective they can be among Iraqis increasingly turning to religious leaders for guidance.