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Close This Window Iraq leaders seek to flesh out peace plan Tue Oct 3, 2006 5:30 AM ET By Alastair Macdonald BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi leaders hope to flesh out a deal to end sectarian bloodshed in Baghdad when they meet again on Tuesday but conceded a four-point plan, drafted under US pressure, was still a long way short on vital substance. Washington's ambassador and its top general in Iraq welcomed what local media called Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's "Ramadan Agreement" as a significant step in the right direction. "Now begins the hard work of implementing the plan," they added. Mass kidnaps by men in uniform and dozens of sectarian murders a day during this Muslim holy month of Ramadan have fueled fears of all-out civil war ripping the nation apart. Shi'ite and Sunni leaders were at odds in their interpretations of what was outlined by Maliki, after two days of talks led to a deal late on Monday. Another said it was merely a stop-gap to relieve US pressure on Maliki. The formation of local security committees for the capital is the plan's first point. They should involve politicians, tribal and religious figures and the Iraqi military. But several officials said they did not know how large an area each would cover, the size of the committees nor even their powers. "There will be another meeting today to agree the details," said Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of the main Sunni bloc. All the parties would sit on every committee, whatever the sectarian make-up of the neighborhood concerned, Dulaimi said. However, Shi'ite negotiator Abdul Kareem al-Anizi said the committees would reflect the local populations. For example, the Shi'ite militia stronghold of Sadr City would have few Sunnis on its committee. Such imbalances could be common -- in months of ethnic cleansing, thousands of Baghdad's 7 million people have fled areas where they feel in a minority. The second point of the plan is a Central Committee for Peace and Security. The third element would be new oversight of the media and the fourth monthly reviews of the plan. US CONCERNS US and Iraqi officials trying to drive militants from the city say the "Battle for Baghdad" will settle the fate of Iraq. US officials say they are uneasy that Maliki's unity cabinet has yet to act after four months to rein in party militias and other groups behind violence like two mass kidnaps this week -- crimes in which some police seem to be involved. Washington's envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, says Maliki has just two months more to turn the tide or Iraq will face disaster. shows that the Iraqi leaders want their country to succeed," he said in a statement with US General George Casey. One prominent Shi'ite parliamentarian involved in the talks, however, dismissed the deal as a charade that would not work and was meant only to give an illusion of action for a week or two. "It just means we all ask our own people to cool it for Ramadan." Sunni parliamentarian Hussein al-Falluji said the deal came after "huge US pressure to do something about the militias". Maliki just acted to ease pressure from US officials, he said. President George W Bush, on the defensive over Iraq in next month's congressional elections, has vowed to back Maliki if he stays on course to reconcile the opposing factions. Many Americans are keen to bring home the 140,000 US troops whose presence may be holding back a civil war that could split Iraq and drag in its Arab, Iranian and Turkish neighbors. The military announced overnight that five more were killed in recent days, taking the US combat death toll to 11 since Saturday. The bodies of 10 people from 26 kidnapped at a meat factory on Sunday had been found in south Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said. The fault lines in Iraq are complex but a key factor is that Sunnis, dominant under Saddam Hussein, fear Kurds and Shi'ites want to grab the northern and southern oilfields. Kurds and Maliki's Shi'ites, in turn, fear a return of authoritarian Sunni rule. It is unclear what media supervision the government plans. One negotiator said the main target would be foreign media, since Iraqi media were already mostly controlled by the various political factions. Pan-Arab television channels, the most watched in Iraq, have already suffered from official bans. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
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