Iraqi factions talk peace in Finland

By Sakari Suoninen

HELSINKI (Reuters) - A group of Iraqis from across the sectarian and ethnic divide agreed a set of principles at a meeting in Finland on Sunday that they hope will foster national reconciliation, the organizers of the event said.

The conference on healing divided societies brought together Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs as well as Kurds with the goal of ending violence in Iraq, the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) said.

CMI is a non-governmental organization headed by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who has been active in talks involving divided communities in Kosovo and the Indonesian province of Aceh since his presidency ended.

"The conferees adopted a set of principles for joint national action in addition to a set of implementation mechanisms with the aim of advancing national reconciliation in Iraq," CMI said in a statement.

"All political parties and factions would have to abide by the principles they had adopted in order to participate in negotiations."

The participants -- who included several prominent Iraqi politicians -- would meet within the next three months in Baghdad to refine the principles and mechanisms that would enable them to reach a national agreement, CMI said.

CMI did not spell out what such a pact would look like.

Some U.S. lawmakers have urged the United Nations to convene a high-level national reconciliation conference involving Iraqi leaders and neighboring countries as a way to bridge the divide between Iraq's Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.