The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, United Nations

Iraq's prime minister said national reconciliation was the key to ending the daily barrage of violence in his country, calling on world leaders to help bring bickering factions together but offering few political solutions of his own. Nouri al-Maliki told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday that terrorism was threatening to erode any recent successes in reducing sectarian killings and establishing democratic principles in Iraq. His statements came as a wave of bombings and shootings swept Iraq, killing at least 50 people and raising fears of a new al-Qaida offensive. "We look at national reconciliation as a life boat, a perpetual peace project and a safe harbor for the political process and the democratic experience," al-Maliki said. But he said healing is "not the responsibility of the government alone." "Today we feel optimistic that countries of the region realize the danger of the terrorist atacks against Iraq, that it is not in their interest for Iraq to be weak," he said. Al-Maliki spoke at the high-level ministerial session during a day of pointed atacks against President Bush, many focusing on the president's Iraq policy.