Reconciliation Conference in Diala

The deputy governor of Diala province, Awf Rahoomi,has said a reconciliation initiative has been launched to halt acts of sectarian violence there. The initiative was approved at a conference of religious and political leaders along with Sunni and Shia bodies. He denied that the Iraqi resistance had taken part in the conference, held in Mukdadiya. Awf said the conference decided to contact all bodies involved in conflict to urge them to stop internecine clashes. He noted that sectarian violence had increased after the kidnapping of Diala health official Ali al-Mahdawi, and accused elements of the Mahdi Army, which is affiliated with the young Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, of responsibility for this abduction.