Iraqi PM unveils plan to stop militia killings

Iraq's prime minister announced a broad plan to halt militia killings, as mass kidnaps by men in uniform and dozens of tortured bodies found in Baghdad fuelled fears of all-out sectarian civil war.

A day after the US ambassador warned he had just two more months to start curbing the violence or face catastrophe, Nuri al-Maliki met Sunnis and fellow Shiite majority leaders to agree to a four-point plan focused on all-party local committees in the capital and unspecified new controls on the media.

Though short on detail, it bears the hopes of a nation.

"We will try to stop the bloodshed," veteran Sunni leader Adnan al-Dulaimi said as the assembled officials spoke live on television after the talks. "If this goes on, Iraq is finished."

Point number one, Mr Maliki told Iraqis, would be forming local committees in Baghdad districts to include rival politicians, tribal leaders and the military. These would be overseen, in the second point, by a Central Committee for Peace and Security.

The third element would be new supervision of the media and the fourth would be monthly reviews.

US and Iraqi officials trying to drive militants from the city say the "Battle for Baghdad" will settle the fate of Iraq.

- Reuters