A leading figure of the recent sit-in protests in Anbar (west of Baghdad) revealed that Sunni politician and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq has been mediating with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to calm things down. But this is causing sharp divisions among the participating groups of the sit-in.
The leader told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that “a meeting was held at a house of one the largest Sunni tribes in Ramadi. The meeting included many sit-in leaders as well as representatives of extremist Sunni parties to hear a proposal about how to resolve the crisis and reduce the possibility of sliding into military confrontations.”