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Iraq is in the middle of
civil war, the country's former interim prime
minister Iyad Allawi has told the BBC.
The UK and US have repeatedly denied Iraq is facing
a civil war, but Mr Allawi suggested there was no
other way to describe the sectarian violence.
Analysts say Mr Allawi's comments are part of
political manoeuvring as talks continue over
creation of a government.
UK Defence Secretary John Reid insisted that the
terrorists were failing to drive Iraq into civil
war.
Speaking to British troops in Basra, he said he
thought the political and religious leaders had
shown great restraint.
Those trying to turn one community on another were
not succeeding, he added.
But there were reports of a mortar shell exploding
in the southern city of Karbala as Shias gathered
for one of the biggest events of their religious
calendar. Police said there were no casualties.
The US-led Operation Swarmer, against insurgents and
foreign fighters near Samarra, is now into its
fourth day.
'No troop withdrawals'
There has been a cycle of sectarian reprisals and
revenge killings between Sunnis and Shias.
The destruction of the Shia shrine at Samarra on 22
February made some observers wonder if the country
was heading towards civil conflict.
The BBC News website's world affairs correspondent
Paul Reynolds says the unrest is threatening hopes
among the US and its allies for substantial troop
withdrawals in the coming months.
And US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that
withdrawing US troops would be the modern day
equivalent of handing post-war Germany back to the
Nazis, and that "terrorists" would fill the vacuum.
Mr Allawi heads the Iraqi National List, a secular
nationalist alliance made up of Sunnis and Shias.
Speaking on BBC TV's Sunday AM programme, he said it
would be a mistake to underplay Iraq's problems,
although the country was "edging towards" a
political deal.
He said he had warned against creating a vacuum in
the country and raised concerns about the insurgents
and the dismantling of the military.
"It is unfortunate that we are in civil war. We are
losing each day as an average 50 to 60 people
throughout the country, if not more.
"If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil
war is."
'Under control'
Mr Allawi added that a national unity government may
not be "an immediate solution" to the country's
problems.
Iraq is moving towards the "point of no return", he
said, when the country would fragment and
sectarianism would spread throughout the region .
On Saturday, Mr Reid said: "There is not civil war
now, nor is it inevitable, nor is it imminent."
He said there had been progress and most of the
country was under control.
A government of national unity would be the "biggest
signal in Iraq that terrorists will not be allowed
to do what they are trying to do which is divide
Iraqi from Iraqi", he added.
www.bbc.co.uk
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