Iraqi political factions attempt to resolve crisis through talks

BAGHDAD (Xinhua) - Leaders of Iraq's major political blocs launched talks in Baghdad on Saturday in an effort to discuss the political crisis that threatened to lead Iraq to an all-out sectarian strife, an official television reported.

Some of the top politicians from different Iraqi factions, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, and Maliki's deputy Roj Nuri Shawis, who is a Kurdish leader, are to meet at the office of the Shiite leader Ammar al- Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, the state-run Iraqia channel said.

The meeting is expected to discuss means to end the political differences among the factions, in addition to the recent deterioration of the country's security situation and the continuing protests by the Sunni community which started late last December, the channel said.

The meeting comes amid escalation of sectarian tension between the Sunni and Shiite communities, which has been at its highest level since the US troops pulled out from Iraq at the end of 2011. For five months, the Sunni Muslims have been protesting against the Shiite-led government in the Sunni provinces and the Sunni districts in Baghdad.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement on Saturday that the violence in Iraq has hit the highest record since 2008 during the past two months of April and May. It said 1, 045 people were killed in Iraq in May, rising from 712 in April.

"That is a sad record. The Iraqi political leaders must act immediately to stop the intolerable bloodshed," said Martin Kobler, the UN envoy in Baghdad and head of UNAMI.