Top Sunni cleric wants dialogue among anti-US Iraqis

Dec 4, 2006, 16:04 GMT

Sana'a - A leading Iraqi Sunni cleric on Monday called for a conference of all Iraqi parties opposing the 'American occupation' of Iraq.

'We call on all those opposing the American occupation to meet for dialogue,' Sheikh Harith al-Dhari, who heads the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq, said in the Yemeni capital Sana'a.

He said the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government 'was brought in by the American occupation, which is taking advantage of it to exclude other Iraqi (political) forces,' he said referring to the Sunni minority.

'We reject this government,' said al-Dhari, who is one of Iraq's most prominent Sunni figures. He added that 'this government has brought evil from which Iraq and Iraqis are suffering.'

Al-Dhari said efforts by some Arab countries to bring together Iraqi officials and opposition leaders for talks were aimed at 'giving further chances for the occupation to continue destruction and exclusion.'

Al-Dhari, arrived in Sanaa on Sunday for talks on ways to end the violence in his country.

He told reporters upon arrival that he would hold talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the 'tragic situation that the Iraqi people is passing through.' He said his meeting with Saleh aims at 'discussing a way-out from this dangerous impasse.'

Yemen officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that al-Dhari's talks with Yemeni officials would also touch on a Yemeni plan to host Iraq's political rivals for reconciliation talks.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu-Bakr al-Qerbi said last week his country was negotiating with the Iraqi government and its opponents to convince them to attend such talks in Yemen.

The minister said the Arab League and Iraq's neighbours were also involved in the discussions but gave no date for the proposed conference.

Al-Dhari has rejected an arrest warrant issued last month against him by the Iraqi government for allegedly provoking sectarian violence through his public remarks backing insurgents.