Ethnic Cleansing Ongoing in Iraq: Allawi

"There are no institutions that could protect people, there are definitely ethnic cleansing happening and taking place here and there in the country, so this is in fact a level of a civil war," Allawi told NBC News on Sunday, March19 , Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

"We should not deny this, we should be brave enough to talk about it."

Up to 400 people, mostly Sunnis, were killed in indiscriminate attacks on Sunni mosques and people triggered by the February bombing of the Imam Ali Al-Hadi shrine, one of Iraq's most revered Shiite places in the northern city of Samarra.

The Sunnis have accused Shiite militias of orchestrating most of the violence against their community and running government-sanctioned death squads.

"These are facts, these are not imaginary things," added Allawi.

Allawi told the BBC television a day earlier that Iraq was in the midst of a civil war.

"We are losing each day an average 50 to 60 people throughout the country, if not more," he said. "If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is."

Prevailing Sectarianism

Dozens of bodies are dumped in Baghdad every day, many showing signs of torture. (Reuters)

Allawi, a secular Shiite who gained a reputation as a tough politician with security as his main trump card, said sectarianism was taking roots in Iraq.

"Services are deteriorating and sectarianism is prevailing and militias are in control of certain sectors of Baghdad," he added.

Allawi earlier accused the incumbent government of Ibrahim Al-Jaafari of allowing powerful militias to hold sway, posing a threat to communal harmony in the country.

He also accused the Shiite-led government of forming death squads and setting up secret torture centers.

The anti-Sunni attacks prompted regional and international warnings of a looming civil war in Iraq, which would destabilize the entire Middle East.

The respected International Crisis Group (ICG) said last month only the introduction of significant changes to the Iraqi "sectarian" constitution and disbanding government-condoned militias can help ward off a deadly civil war.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, however, sought to play down the civil war fears.

"One can completely rule out the threat of a civil war," Talabani, a Kurd, told reporters following a meeting of political parties discussing the formation of a unity government on Sunday.

On Hold

Meanwhile, the Iraqi political parties have suspended their negotiations on forming a new government for one week.

"The negotiations with the other lists to form the government will start in one week," Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman told AFP.

Iraqi parties have been deadlocked over forming a national unity government since the December election to choose the first full-term parliament.

But the Iraqi political parties agreed on the creation of a new security council during talks on Sunday.

"Yesterday (Sunday) the meeting of the president with the other parties agreed on the principle of forming a national security council," Othman said.

The 19 -member council will consist of nine members of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, four from the Kurdish alliance, three members of the Sunni list, two members of Allawi's list and one from Sunni National Dialogue Front led by Saleh Mutlaq.

Creation of the council -- a body not envisaged in the constitution -- is aimed at assuring Sunnis and Kurds that their communities would have a say in security matters.

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