A dangerous escalation of sectarian conflict in Iraq constitutes a further threat to regional stability. The UN envoy to Iraq, Martin Kobbler, called for calm — warning that a continued escalation of violence would lead to a civil war. Efforts at reconciliation by two leading clerics, Abdulghafur al-Samarraie and Saleh al-Haidari, who respectively head the Sunni and Shiite religious endowments, called for politicians to meet in a Baghdad mosque on Friday [April 26]. While such a meeting hopefully would take place, it does not seem that it will be sufficient to stop the bloodletting. [Indeed, CNN reported Friday that bombs blew up at Sunni mosques and at a restaurant in a Shiite area, killing 14.] Still, it is hoped that further efforts in the direction of dialogue will continue to grow.
Fears of civil war are growing throughout the region as a whole. Moreover, what is taking place is not only a fear of civil war, but the anxiety about the seeds that are being planted for a wider Sunni-Shiite confrontation, which would be serious and must not only be avoided but squelched.
