BAGHDAD — Leaders of Iraq's major political blocs announced a plan Monday to create local committees of clerics, tribal leaders and military officers to help quell violence in the capital.
The committees would have no police powers but would work with Iraqi authorities to set up checkpoints and identify dangers in the community, and advise police officers on other security issues.
The government also announced that a central committee for peace and security would monitor police performance in Baghdad's neighborhoods and report abuses.
The plan, unveiled by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki in a televised news conference, appeared to gain broad support among Iraq's major Sunni and Shiite political blocs Monday night.
Sunni Arab insurgent groups and Shiite Muslim militias, some tied to Iraq's leading political parties, are blamed for most of the slayings in the capital, which has been a sectarian battleground for more than a year.
"The agreement between the leaders of the political blocs is going to be activated tonight, and our brothers will work hard to stop the bloodshed," said Maliki, flanked by political party leaders in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.
Although the plan appears to conflict with a Shiite proposal to create bands of armed volunteers to guard neighborhoods, Shiite politicians and clerics endorsed Maliki's announcement.
"Despite the bloodshed taking place every day, there is a strong intention by the political blocs," said Hadi Amri, a parliament member and leader of the Badr Brigade, one of the nation's largest Shiite paramilitary groups. "During the last two days, we sensed a universal desire to stop the violence, which is harming all the political blocs and, most importantly, the Iraqi people."
Shiite cleric and legislator Sheik Jalaluddin Saghir urged Iraqis to work with the plan.
"I hope that people from all sects will take this message presented today from the political blocs and understand that the politicians have agreed, and not weaken in their fight against terror," he said.
Ammar Wajeeh, a prominent Sunni Arab politician, was more cautious. "We will see whether this agreement will be effective or not," he said. "The purpose of this initiative is to strengthen national reconciliation and to end the influence of militias."
The announcement came less than a week after senior U.S. military officials in Iraq told reporters that Maliki, a Shiite, was not doing enough to stop sectarian violence in Baghdad, and that he was impeding planned offensives against Shiite paramilitary fighters.
