Iraqi Primer meet Shiite cleric 

Source: CCTV.com

10-19-2006 09:37

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has met with radical anti-US Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The government is trying to build political consensus and tackle widening sectarian violence.

Al-Sadr's support was crucial to the prime minister's election to his job earlier this year.

Al-Sadr is the founder and leader of the Mahdi Army, which is blamed for much of the sectarian violence in Iraq.

Al-Maliki and al-Sadr discussed ways to introduce a federal system in Iraq.

In comments to reporters, al-Sadr appeared to soften his opposition to plans by the Shiite bloc in parliament. But al-Sadr, like Sunni Arab politicians, had maintained federalism could lead to the eventual break-up of Iraq.

Also on Wednesday, a roadside bomb killed a provincial police intelligence chief.

The explosion on the main highway between the cities of Amarah and Basra killed Ali Qassim al-Tamimi, head of intelligence for the Maysan provincial police force, along with four bodyguards.

Editor:Sun Luying