Iraqi govt seeks support of Sunni tribal leaders

BAGHDAD, July 1 (Reuters) One of Iraq's deputy prime ministers met Sunni Arab tribal chiefs at his home today in a bid to win their backing for the government's national reconciliation plan, which seeks to defuse the Sunni insurgency.

Salam al-Zobaie, himself a member of the once-dominant Sunni minority, held talks in Baghdad with about 20 tribal leaders from the insurgent strongholds of Abu Ghraib, west of the capital, and the ''triangle of death'' to south of the capital.

''The tribal leaders can play a key role in this initiative,'' he told Reuters during the meeting, adding that he would make recommendations to the cabinet based on his talks.

Leaders of tribes, to which most Iraqis belong, have long been courted by rulers in Baghdad and US and Iraqi officials see Sunni tribal elders as a possible channel to the rebels. The influence today of tribal sheikhs is far from clear, however.

Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, sworn on May 20 at the head of a national unity government, offered an ''olive branch'' to the Sunni community last Sunday, unveiling a broad plan to end the insurgent violence and communal bloodshed.

Maliki has promoted national reconciliation as a central theme of his premiership, offering to negotiate with Sunni rebel groups and securing the release of thousands of mainly Sunni prisoners held without charge in US-run prisons.

Zobaie said he had met tribal leaders from Iraq's western Anbar province in the Jordanian capital Amman earlier this week for similar discussions. The Sunni insurgency is particularly deep-rooted in the province.

REUTERS SHB VV2006