Baghdad, Iraq – Iraq’s prime minister announced a new plan Monday aimed at ending the deepening crisis between Shiite and Sunni parties in his government and uniting them behind the drive to stop sectarian killings that have bloodied the country for months.
The four-point plan, which emerged after talks between both sides, aims to resolve disputes by giving every party a voice in how security forces operate against violence on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood level.
Local committees will be formed in each Baghdad district – made up of representatives of every party, religious and tribal leaders and security officials – to consult on security efforts. A Sunni representative, for example, could raise a complaint if he feels police are not pursuing a Shiite militia after an attack. A central committee, also made up of all the parties, will coordinate with the armed forces.
“We have taken the decision to end sectarian hatred once and for all,” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters. “We have vowed before Almighty God to stop the bloodshed.”
In a possible boost to the effort to rein in the violence, a radical cleric who heads one of the most powerful Shiite militias, Muqtada al-Sadr, has ordered his followers to put aside their weapons temporarily, an al-Sadr spokesman told The Associated Press.
Violence has not slowed in the wake of al-Sadr’s orders. A curfew slapped on Baghdad on Saturday brought a day of calm. But as soon as it was lifted, violence exploded.
More than 50 bodies – most bound and many of them showing signs of torture – were found in Baghdad alone on Sunday, apparent victims of sectarian killings, police said.
Al-Maliki is under increasing pressure to stop the violence, which has killed thousands since February. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad warned this week that al-Maliki must make progress within the next two months to avert a crisis.
At midday Monday, gunmen wearing military-style uniforms pulled up to a group of computer stores at the Technical University in downtown Baghdad and pulled out 14 employees, forcing them into SUVs and driving off, police said.
On Sunday, gunmen stormed into a frozen meat factory in Baghdad and forced 24 workers into a refrigerator truck, shooting two others who refused to get in.
Hours later, seven bodies were found in a Sunni district of the Baghdad neighborhood of Dora and were identified as workers from the factory. The fate of the other abducted workers was not known.
The U.S command said three U.S. Marines died in Anbar province Saturday – two in combat and the third in a vehicle accident.
A British soldier was killed and another wounded in a mortar attack in the southern city of Basra. One shell hit a nearby house, killing two children.
