Reuters Looking to step back from the brink, Iraq's fractious political blocs are working on short-term solutions to cool a crisis that threatened a slide back into sectarian strife, but fundamental differences may be left to smoulder. Political leaders from several factions are looking to a national conference this month and the courts to defuse hostilities triggered when Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki called for the arrest of Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi after the last US troops left. “People are talking about dialogue. It does look like calm and wisdom are prevailing. I think we have stepped back,” said one Western diplomat. The outcome of the crisis has wider implications in a region where Syria's anti-government upheaval is taking on a sectarian tone and Iran, Arab Gulf nations and Turkey to Iraq's north are all jostling to extend their influence. At stake in Baghdad is the survival of an uneasy power-sharing government among Maliki's alliance, Iraqiya and the Kurdish blocs that divides up ministries and posts but has struggled to work, hamstrung by deep mistrust. In two apparent gestures over the past two days to calm the atmosphere, Maliki appealed for political stability and parliament speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi called on Iraqis to “build the present and the future with one heart and one hand”. The rival blocs appear to have agreed to attend the conference later this month proposed by Nujaifi and President Jalal Talabani and to let the courts resolve Maliki's allegations that Hashemi ran death squads. But a senior politician who asked not to be named saw little hope that national dialogue would produce results. “It is not expected that this conference will offer anything new, but it offers an acceptable reason for Iraqiya leaders to end their boycott and save face,” the lawmaker said. For the moment, Iraqiya's boycott of parliament stands and suggestions for early elections — not due until 2014 — and other measures for long-term change are not gaining traction. Whether Iraqiya's boycott survives may become apparent on Tuesday when parliament is due back from a recess and Maliki's cabinet convenes its regular weekly meeting. Last week, two Iraqiya ministers, including Finance Minister Rafie Al-Esawi, boycotted the cabinet and four were absent with excuses, but two others attended, highlighting the longstanding schism in the bloc. A senior lawmaker said on Sunday he was leaving the bloc over dissatisfaction with its leaders' decision-making and handling of the Hashemi crisis, joining 11 other Iraqiya lawmakers who have departed in the last three months. “Iraqiya is really divided, broken,” said a senior leader in the bloc. “All (its leaders) want is to go back to their jobs. Maliki humiliated Iraqiya (leaders) and now they are ready to sacrifice Hashemi.” If some Iraqiya ministers quit, others within the bloc may be ready to claim their jobs, strengthening Maliki's hand. __
