Iraq govt warns of risk of endless civil war
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-26 09:15

DANGER

U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been criticized by Shi'ite leaders this week for pushing to have Sunnis brought into government, said a unity government would help avert the risk of civil war -- a risk he said had diminished on Saturday.

"There is still a danger," he told reporters. "But the risk of going to war because of the ... bombing has diminished."

In a lengthy interview on Iraqi state television, he assured Iraqis that Washington was ready to help in any way: "The United States has a lot invested in Iraq. Iraq's failures are ours."

Earlier, aides to fiery Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr met Sunni religious and political leaders and made televised joint calls for Muslim unity; Sadr denies his black-clad Mehdi Army militiamen have been involved in attacks on Sunni mosques.

Rival Shi'ite leaders also deny sending militias into the streets; but shows of force strengthen them in negotiations.

Shi'ite fury exceeds any provoked by Sunni attacks that have killed thousands since U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led regime; senior figures fear some Shi'ites may stop heeding calls from their religious leaders for restraint.

Iraqi and U.S. officials blamed the bloodless but symbolic attack on Samarra's Golden Mosque on al Qaeda, saying it wants to wreck the project for democracy in Iraq; al Qaeda accused Shi'ites of carrying it out as an excuse for attacks on Sunnis.

Abroad, there has been concern that Iraqi sectarian violence could inflame the entire Middle East if it gets out of hand.