UNITED NATIONS - Iraq is in the throes of "vicious, sectarian conflict" but U.S. and Iraqi forces will not allow it to escalate to civil war, the top U.N. envoy in Iraq said Thursday.
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Ashraf Qazi said bloodshed has intensified since bombers destroyed the golden dome of a Shiite shrine in Samarra on Feb. 23. "And there is a fear that if, God forbid, a Samaara-like outrage was visited upon the Iraqi people again, some of the political leadership might even lose control over the streets which would worsen the situation," he said.
But with Iraqi and multinational forces deployed throughout the country, Qazi said, "there is a blockage that would not allow the situation to escalate to the extent of what would normally be characterized as a civil war."
Nonetheless, he stressed that "sectarian violence has become as much of a threat to the security of Iraq as insurgency violence."
Qazi, a former Pakistani ambassador who has been the U.N. envoy since July 2004, held a news conference a day after he told the Security Council that Iraq's transition to democracy is increasingly threatened by the fighting, terror and deteriorating human rights.
Earlier Thursday, Iraq's new parliament was sworn in, with parties still deadlocked over the next government and vehicles banned from Baghdad's streets to prevent car bombings and sectarian strife.
"The urgency to form a broad-based government or a government of national unity in view of these challenges is absolutely essential," Qazi said.
But the violence has complicated the process of putting together a new government, he said.
"We have a very worrying situation, particularly in the aftermath of the Samarra incident ... and we certainly have a low-grade, vicious, sectarian conflict which has intensified in the aftermath," he said.
Qazi said consultations with Cabinet ministers and political leaders, curfews, and appeals to the media to avoid inflamatory descriptions of the situation and to religious leaders to avoid inflamatory sermons, have helped "put a lid" on the unrest.
"There is a control on the level of violence which is still at a worrisome level, but there is a definite control over the immediate potential for it to escalate," Qazi said.
For a country to make the successful transition from dictatorship to democracy, as Iraq is engaged in right now, it's vital that Iraqis keep a national focus — not just an ethnic or regional identity, Qazi said.
In the long run, he said, "you need a government with policies which have the broad support of the people to promote dialogue between various groups."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060317...wgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--
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Ashraf Qazi said bloodshed has intensified since bombers destroyed the golden dome of a Shiite shrine in Samarra on Feb. 23. "And there is a fear that if, God forbid, a Samaara-like outrage was visited upon the Iraqi people again, some of the political leadership might even lose control over the streets which would worsen the situation," he said.
But with Iraqi and multinational forces deployed throughout the country, Qazi said, "there is a blockage that would not allow the situation to escalate to the extent of what would normally be characterized as a civil war."
Nonetheless, he stressed that "sectarian violence has become as much of a threat to the security of Iraq as insurgency violence."
Qazi, a former Pakistani ambassador who has been the U.N. envoy since July 2004, held a news conference a day after he told the Security Council that Iraq's transition to democracy is increasingly threatened by the fighting, terror and deteriorating human rights.
Earlier Thursday, Iraq's new parliament was sworn in, with parties still deadlocked over the next government and vehicles banned from Baghdad's streets to prevent car bombings and sectarian strife.
"The urgency to form a broad-based government or a government of national unity in view of these challenges is absolutely essential," Qazi said.
But the violence has complicated the process of putting together a new government, he said.
"We have a very worrying situation, particularly in the aftermath of the Samarra incident ... and we certainly have a low-grade, vicious, sectarian conflict which has intensified in the aftermath," he said.
Qazi said consultations with Cabinet ministers and political leaders, curfews, and appeals to the media to avoid inflamatory descriptions of the situation and to religious leaders to avoid inflamatory sermons, have helped "put a lid" on the unrest.
"There is a control on the level of violence which is still at a worrisome level, but there is a definite control over the immediate potential for it to escalate," Qazi said.
For a country to make the successful transition from dictatorship to democracy, as Iraq is engaged in right now, it's vital that Iraqis keep a national focus — not just an ethnic or regional identity, Qazi said.
In the long run, he said, "you need a government with policies which have the broad support of the people to promote dialogue between various groups."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060317...wgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--