Church-led effort to bridge Iraq's rifts

Other than promoting peace, the center's activities will address women's issues and include establishing a television station called Salaam, which means "peace" in Arabic. "We will be working at every level of society," White says.

The cornerstone of the project is the Iraqi Religious Accord, a carefully worded seven-point document drawn up by White and approved by the center's 25-member council of prominent religious and political leaders, including Ayatollah Hussein al-Sadr, a senior Shiite cleric based in Baghdad, and Sheikh Ahmad Kubeisi, an outspoken Sunni cleric strongly opposed to the US-led occupation.

"According to our faith traditions, killing innocents in the name of God is a desecration of his holy name and defames religion not only in Iraq but in the world," the document says.

"Violence and terrorism in Iraq are an evil that must be opposed by all as we seek to rebuild our nation. We as Iraqis from different traditions seek to live together as one family respecting the integrity of each other's historical and religious inheritance. We call upon all to oppose incitement, hatred, and the misrepresentation of the other."

Still, despite the accommodating sentiments contained in the accord, there are formidable obstacles in the way of civil peace. International concern over Iraq's internal stability was highlighted recently by United Nations envoy Lakhdar Ibrahimi. He appealed to Iraqis to be "conscious that civil wars do not happen because a person makes a decision 'Today, I'm going to start a civil war.' "

Mr. Ibrahimi, an Algerian who witnessed his own country's descent into civil strife in the 1990s and helped mediate in Lebanon's 1975-1990 conflict, added that wars begin "because people are reckless, people are selfish, because people think more of themselves than they do of their country."

White says he has no illusions as to the difficulties ahead. "Either there will be a civil war or the first chance of democracy in the Middle East," he says. "It could go either way. I hope it will go the way of real democracy, but it might not."

White tells the assembled Sunni clerics at the meeting: "You will be even more powerful if the Sunnis and the Shiites can get together and take your issues to the coalition authorities together because these issues are the same." One Sunni cleric nods his head and says, "Negotiations are very good and always bring about one's objectives." It's conflict resolution at work.

The meeting breaks up earlier than expected with the two groups agreeing to present a joint front in future dealings with the CPA. White smiles broadly, pleased at the unexpectedly swift and successful outcome.

"If they had spent three days on their own, they would not have come up with that solution," he says. "If we can get them to come together as one group, that will be great," he says. "Now we have to work on the Shiites."

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