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UN chief warns of Iraq civil war UN chief warns of Iraq civil war
(about 3 hours later)
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned that Iraq is in danger of sliding into "full-scale civil war".UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned that Iraq is in danger of sliding into "full-scale civil war".
He called for urgent action from Iraqi leaders and the international community to bring Iraq back from the brink.He called for urgent action from Iraqi leaders and the international community to bring Iraq back from the brink.
Mr Annan was addressing a meeting at UN headquarters in New York attended by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.Mr Annan was addressing a meeting at UN headquarters in New York attended by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
He spoke on a day when more than 50 people died in Iraq in bomb attacks, shootings, and kidnap killings.He spoke on a day when more than 50 people died in Iraq in bomb attacks, shootings, and kidnap killings.
A suicide bomber attacked volunteers who were queuing up at an Iraqi police recruitment centre in the city of Ramadi, killing 13 people, police said. "Iraq and its leaders are now at an important crossroads," Mr Annan said.
The everyday life of Iraqi people is dominated by the constant threat of sectarian violence and civil strife Kofi Annan
"If they can address the needs and common interests of all Iraqis, the promise of peace and prosperity is still within reach.
"But if current patterns of alienation and violence persist much longer, there is a grave danger that the Iraqi state will break down, possibly in the midst of a full-scale civil war."
Forthright
Speaking as world leaders arrived in New York for the UN General Assembly, which convenes on Tuesday, he said that Iraq had made "important progress" in the past two years, with national elections and a constitutional process.
But despite this, he said, it was "heartbreaking" that "the everyday life of Iraqi people is dominated by the constant threat of sectarian violence and civil strife".
Mr Annan has rarely been more forthright on the situation in Iraq than in these final weeks of his period as secretary general, says the BBC's Mike Wooldridge in New York.
Armed groups operate largely unchecked in Iraq
Last week, he said most leaders in the Middle East had told him on his recent visit to the region that the US-led invasion had been a disaster and had destabilised the region.
The communal violence in Iraq continued unabated on Monday.
A suicide bomber attacked volunteers who were queuing up at an Iraqi police recruitment centre in the city of Ramadi, killing 13 people.
Meanwhile, in the northern city of Talafar, at least 20 people died when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy market just before dark.Meanwhile, in the northern city of Talafar, at least 20 people died when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy market just before dark.
Fourteen bodies were found in different parts of Baghdad, showing signs of torture and bullet wounds to the head, the interior ministry said.Fourteen bodies were found in different parts of Baghdad, showing signs of torture and bullet wounds to the head, the interior ministry said.
In other violence: In and around Baquba, north of Baghdad, six people from two separate Shia families were shot dead as they packed up their homes, having repeatedly been ordered out of the area by armed gangs.
  • Three Iraqi soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb north-east of Baghdad
  • Four members of a Shia family were shot dead as they packed up their home in Baquba, after being repeatedly warned to leave
  • Two other Shias were killed as they left their home in Hib Hib, west of Baquba
  • In Basra, police found the body of Lieutenant-Colonel Fawzi Abdul Karim al-Mousawi, chief of the city's anti-terrorism department, who was kidnapped the day before
    • 'Unbearable'
    Tribal leaders and clerics in Ramadi, in the so-called Sunni Triangle that is the heart of the insurgency, met last week to decide how to confront the daily bloodshed in their city.
    Insurgents have taken control of some parts of Anbar province
    They agreed to join forces, to assemble a force of 20,000 men to "purge the city of these infidels" from al-Qaeda, and pleaded for US supplies of arms.
    "People are fed up with the acts of those criminals who take Islam as a cover for their crimes," Sheik Fassal al-Guood told the Associated Press news agency on Monday.
    "The situation in the province is unbearable, the city is abandoned, most of the families have fled the city and all services are poor."
    He said 15 of the 18 tribes in Ramadi "have sworn to fight those who are killing Sunnis and Shias", and had put together "20,000 young men".
    'Proud to kill'
    Another sheikh at the meeting, Sattar al-Buzayi, told Reuters that the tribal leaders had decided to take the fight to the Islamist militants who control parts of Ramadi and Anbar province.
    "We have now entered a real battle. It's either us or them," he said.
    "We just want to live like everyone else. We're sick of all this bloodshed," said one Ramadi resident, voicing anger at al-Qaeda.
    However, a young al-Qaeda leader called Abu Farouq told Reuters that the fight would go on until an Islamic caliphate had been imposed across Anbar.
    "This tribal system is un-Islamic. We are proud to kill tribal leaders who are helping the Americans," he said.