Iraq PM says sectarian strife renews assisted by foreign plots

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki warned Saturday that the recent violence in Sunni province is a sign that sectarian strife is returning to the country assisted by foreign plots.

"Sectarian strife in Iraq in the past was unprecedented, but now it comes back by planned schemes," Maliki said at the International Islamic Conference for the Convergence and Dialogue in Baghdad.

"Sectarianism is evil and fetid winds that do not need license to cross into all Muslim countries, whether Sunni or Shiite, if it begins in a place it will move to another," he warned in the two- day conference attended by hundreds of religious dignitaries home and abroad.

Clashes erupted Tuesday between Iraqi security forces and anti- government Sunni protesters in Hawijah, where hundreds of security members backed by helicopters stormed a sit-in by Sunni Arabs.

The operation sparked further clashes across Iraq between the Sunni tribes and the security forces.