Sunni, Shiite, Kurdish clerics and tribal leaders meet to discuss violence

(10 May 2006)
1. Wide of conference
2. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ayatollah Hussein Ismail al-Sadr, Baghdad''s most senior Shiite cleric:
"You should have a big influence and a role in Iraqi life and not to let other counties interfere with Iraqi business. There are men in Iraq and heads of tribes who are capable of working to keep the safety of Iraq, and who are capable to secure Iraqi unity."
3. Cutaways of conference
4. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ayatollah Hussein Ismail al-Sadr, Baghdad''s most senior Shiite cleric:
"We wonder, we have invited the representative of the United Nations and of the Arab League to this conference, but they didn''t come. We are wondering why they have not come. We are asking: do they want not to see the Iraqis gathering in Iraq? Do they not want to see the Iraqis unified or do they want always the Iraqis hold conferences outside Iraq?"
5. Wide of conference
6. Ayatollah Hussein Ismail al-Sadr leading the heads of tribes in praying
7. Various of praying
STORYLINE :
About 50 Sunni Arab, Shiite and Kurdish clerics, along with tribal leaders, met in Baghdad on Wednesday to discuss ways of ending Iraq''s widespread violence, and an ayatollah urged Iraqis to put their sectarian and ethnic differences behind them.
Dressed in outfits ranging from business suits and ties to traditional Arab robes and head scarfs, the leaders met at al-Hashimi Mosque in northern Baghdad.
At one point, they knelt on a carpet to pray together in a unified ritual.
Ayatollah Hussein Ismail al-Sadr, Baghdad''s most senior Shiite cleric, delivered a speech urging Iraqis to unite for the sake of Iraq''s safety.
"You should have a big influence and a role in Iraqi life and not to let other counties interfere with Iraqi business," al-Sadr told the meeting.
"There are men in Iraq and heads of tribes who are capable of working to keep the safety of Iraq and who are capable to secure Iraqi unity," he added.
Al-Sadr also criticised the United Nations and Arab League envoys for not attending the meeting, saying they had been invited.

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