Iraq must take advantage of improved security and enact laws aimed at reconciliation or risk a resumption of sectarian violence, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said today.
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," Mr 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.