New Iraqi plan to curb violence

BBC

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has announced a new four-point plan aimed at reducing sectarian violence.

The plan, involving setting up local security committees in each area, came after intensive talks with top Sunni and Shia politicians.

They have been engaged in bitter recriminations as violence has risen, especially in the capital, Baghdad.

Shia politicians had accused senior Sunni figures of providing cover for terrorist attacks.

With the situation on the ground worsening rapidly, the political climate within the national unity government was also becoming increasingly envenomed.

The Sunnis accused Shias in the government apparatus of allowing their own militias to carry out sectarian abductions and murders on a huge scale.

With the death toll from sectarian violence reaching ever-higher levels and new atrocities happening every day, something had to be done. .....