U.S. seeks Iraq political gains; Sunnis end boycott

BAGHDAD - Iraq must take advantage of improved security and enact laws aimed at reconciliation or risk a resumption of sectarian violence, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said on Sunday.

In a positive political development, the main Sunni Arab bloc called off a boycott of parliament after its leader was allowed to leave his house for the first time in three days.

Violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically over the past few months after Washington deployed an additional 30,000 troops. But Iraqi leaders have so far made scant progress passing laws aimed at reconciling warring communities.

"The security surge has delivered significant results. Now progress on political reconciliation, including key national legislation as well as economic advances, is needed to consolidate the gains," Negroponte told a news conference in Baghdad at the end of a six-day tour of Iraq.

"If progress is not made on these fronts we risk falling back toward the more violent habits of the past," he said.

Political stalemate worsened over the past few days after the largest Sunni Arab group walked out of parliament.

ARREST LIFTED

It called the boycott after its leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, was confined to his house following the arrest of his son and dozens of bodyguards under suspicion of links to a car bomb.

But Dulaimi was escorted from home on Sunday by National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie and brought to a hotel in the heavily fortified "Green Zone" government and diplomatic compound, where he called an end to the boycott.

"Since this house arrest has been lifted, the Accordance Front will return to sessions of parliament," he told an Iraqi television station.

Dulaimi's daughter Asmaa al-Dulaimi, also a member of parliament, told Reuters her father had agreed to stay at the hotel opposite the parliament building until Thursday.

She said Rubaie had promised in that time to complete an investigation into the affair, which began last week when Iraqi police and soldiers chased suspected gunmen into Dulaimi's office compound. They found a car bomb nearby, and U.S. forces said one of Dulaimi's bodyguards had the key to the vehicle.

Dulaimi's bloc has criticised the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and pulled its members out of the cabinet in August, complaining that Sunni Arabs were being marginalised.

About 250 supporters of Dulaimi marched in the mainly Sunni town of Tikrit north of Baghdad, demanding he be released from "house arrest".

Negroponte declined to comment on the Dulaimi affair but said he was optimistic Iraq would achieve political reconciliation. Sceptics should bear in mind the recent improvements in security, he said.

"I am sure incidents will arise from time to time that will cause people to question whether the national reconciliation process is going forward. But on the other hand I would urge those who feel that way to consider the fact that a great deal of progress has already been made in the security area.

"There is, I think, much more of a spirit of wanting now to move forward in the spirit of national reconciliation, and I think we now have to give that process a chance to develop."