Iraq's Shiite-Led Gov't Angers Sunnis

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Iraq's Shiite-led government has deeply undercut its promises to work toward sectarian reconciliation with a series of recent measures that prompted Sunni threats to leave the government and take up arms.

The government's actions - and the Sunni response - have dimmed hopes for a national reconciliation to keep Iraq's vicious sectarian violence from erupting into an all-out civil war.

Sunnis say Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government is not serious about disbanding Shiite militias, has done nothing about creating a more fair division of power and is balking at legislation that would divide the country's oil wealth equitably among all regions.

Sunni-dominated territories in the center and west of the country are largely desert expanses and fertile strips of land along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers - without oil resources.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6226313,00.html