Report: Iraq leaders to hold summit

Above: The major players -- Nuri al-Maliki (Prime Minister, Shiite), Tariq al-Hashemi (one of two Vice Presidents, Sunni), Moqtada al-Sadr ('fiery' anti-American cleric, Shiite), Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim (head of the largest Shiite coalition), Jalal Talabani (President of Iraq, Kurd, Qadiri Sufi sect of Sunnism), and Massoud Barzani (President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Naqshbandi Sufi sect of Sunnisim). The Sunni bloc just returned to parliament this week after Mahmud Mashhadani was reinstated as speaker. Sadr's parliamentary bloc also returned recently to the legislature following a protest of the most recent bombing of the al-Askari shrine in Samarra. The U.S. military has said that Sadr is back in Iran, which Sadr's aides are denying.

Iraq's top five political leaders are due to hold a summit this week in an attempt to end a political crisis which has paralyzed the country for months, officials said on Monday.

They told Reuters that Kurdish, Sunni Arab and Shi'ite leaders acknowledge the political impasse and may meet on Friday.

"They will be holding marathon meetings. So far we have the 27th as the date but it is yet to be confirmed," a senior government official told Reuters.

The summit will bring together President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. It will also involve Masoud Barzani, president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and a top aide of powerful Shi'ite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim.

The government official said the summit may also be extended to include other key figures such as former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

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