The secretary general of the Arab League called on Iraq's ethnic and religious factions, holding a first meeting to discuss the future of their country, to unite so that Iraq can "stand on its own two feet."
Amr Mussa asked those leaders meeting near the southern city of Nasiriyah, "Arabs, Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis, Turkmens, Christians and Assyrians, to form a single bloc in these serious and critical times through which Iraq is passing."
"I call on every Iraqi citizen, whatever his religion or race, to take into account this critical situation and this dangerous phase through which Iraq is passing, in order that the security and stability of the country might be preserved," he said in remarks to the press.
The United States gathered around 80 exiles, opposition figures and tribal and religious leaders in the Biblical city of Ur, near Nasiriyah, for the first in a series of meetings to lay the groundwork for a democratic government in Baghdad.
They pledged to work for a democratic Iraq and to hold more talks in 10 days, after the meeting was marred by angry protests over the nation's future after Saddam Hussein.
AFP