Shi'ite-Sunni Massacre.

In late March 27 Shi'ite gunmen in killed dozens of Sunnis in Tal A'far, near the Syrian border, in revenge for a series of Neo-Salafi truck bombings earlier on March 27, leaving more than 130 dead on both sides in a familiar pattern of attack and reprisal. Maliki ordered a probe into claims that Shi'ite police took part in the killing alongside local Shi'te militias.

On March 24-31, over 430 people were killed in Neo-Salafi bombings and revenge attacks across Iraq, and hundreds more were badly wounded. These raising new doubts about the ability of Iraq's security forces to keep order in an atmosphere of strong sectarian polarisation.

Shi'ite gunmen executed Sunni males of military age in a battle which lasted up to two hours late on March 27. It was stopped by the army moving on to the streets. The attack followed two truck bombs earlier in the day in Tal A'far's market places which killed at least 65 people. Neo-Salafis reportedly ambushed ambulances rushing the wounded to hospital. Another 10 people were killed by a Neo-Salafi suicide bomber on March 24.

The predominantly Turkoman Tal A'far is split between Sunnis and Shi'ites and was a Neo-Salafi stronghold through 2005. The Neo-Salafis fled after a series of offensives by US and Iraqi troops in 2005. In March 2006 Tal A'far was cited by President Bush as a town which "gives reason for hope". However, the more recent violence highlights the Neo-Salafis' ability to filter back into areas from which they had fled and to disrupt stability with attacks which in turn spark a backlash.

Neo-Salafi suicide car bombs on March 29 exploded in the mainly Shi'ite town of Khalis, 80 km north of Baghdad, killing at least 60. One exploded in a commercial area and a second at a major police checkpoint leading to the police headquarters and court building. A third attacked police patrols rushing to the scene. A police source said there were four explosions.

Gunmen in Abu Ghraib on March 26 attacked a car carrying tribal member Hareth Thaher Khamees al-Dhari, and fired a rocket-propelled grenade, killing him and wounding his driver. A relative of the family, "Abu Abdullah", said: "We accuse al-Qaeda. The shaikh has his stands against al-Qaeda, as al-Qaeda started targeting the innocent, civilians and children, police and army".

In Kirkuk, residents walked in shocked silence in a funeral procession for two nuns who had lived and worked in the city for many years. Sister Margaret Saour, 80, and Sister Fadhila Saour, 71, were locally known for their devotion to charitable works. On March 26, they attended evening prayers at the Chaldean cathedral. After midnight, gunmen entered their house near the Kirkuk government building and shot Margaret, who was blind, and then turned to Fadhila. She tried to flee, but before she could cross the yard, the attackers stabbed her to death. "We can't secure people in their houses after midnight", said Col. Taha Salah, the Qouriya area police chief. But to Father Shamel, the priest, the act was so awful that it was hard to understand.

In Iraq, Arab Muslims have generally shown respect for small numbers of Christians living in their midst. Since the insurgency began there have been attacks on Christian churches. Big numbers of Christians have fled to Syria and Jordan. But in the north, where Christians historically were more numerous, members of the community mostly have felt safe. That has begun to change. Father Shamel said: "As Christians we were not a target for terrorists and were not biased to any party. The terrorists have already killed a Christian policeman, a soldier and an oil engineer, but to kill a nun - this is a crime that God will never forgive".

In another March 26 attack, a Neo-Salafi suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt at a bus stop near a restaurant in Ramadi, in Anbar. At least 17 people were killed and 32 wounded in an area frequented by Iraqi police and where locals had joined the tribal alliance against al-Qaeda. While Anbar has been the epicentre of the Sunni insurgency, a coalition of Sunni tribes last September banded together to fight al-Qaeda. In March Maliki made his first official visit to Anbar.

Sunni Vice President Tarek al-Hashemi calls for renewed talks with insurgents from the Sunni community, saying everyone is welcome, except al-Qaeda. He stresses "everyone" in reference to the Shi'ite militias of Sadr, Jaysh al-Mahdi, accused of fighting Sunnis since February 2006, the Badr force of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), and others. On March 23, Hashemi's Sunni colleague, Deputy PM Salam al-Zauba'ie, was badly wounded in a Neo-Salafi suicide attack later claimed by al-Qaeda.

The Shi'ite Militias:Jaysh al-Mahdi is at blows with al-Fadhila al-Islamiya, a smaller Shi'ite party which recently split from the ruling United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) headed by SCIRI. On March 22 Sadrists in Basra stormed the Fadhila HQ and then invaded the Fadhila-led electricity office, expelling its officials and arresting its director because he had punished an employee who was a Jaysh al-Mahdi member. Jaysh al-Mahdi, in fact, is at odds with everybody. Its leaders are hated by the Sunnis, the Americans, rival Shi'ites, the Kurds and even Iran because the Sadrists object to the increasingly influential role of Tehran in Iraqi politics.

Sunni parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani describes Jaysh al-Mahdi as a threat to Iraqi security no less serious than al-Qaeda, holding it responsible for sectarian war raging since the Feb. 22, 2006, destruction of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra' by Neo-Salafis. The Sadrists have responded with an official declaration that Mashhadani no longer differentiated between resistance and terrorism.

Maliki, more than Mashhadani, no longer differentiates between resistance and terrorism. But Maliki sees Sunni militias are bad, but Badr and Jaysh al-Mahdi are tolerated. He has done nothing since the Baghdad security plan started to disarm either militia. Under pressure from Khalilzad he cracked down on some of their bases, particularly the Sadrists, and issued tough comments on how he planned to deal with the militias.

A media stunt was staged by Maliki and Sadr, who disappeared shortly after the security plan started, ostensibly showing the world he was afraid of Maliki's strict measures. Yet Jaysh al-Mahdi is still powerful in the Shi'ite slums of Baghdad.

Khalilzad is a friend of the Kurds, who are pro-US Sunnis, anti-Qaeda, anti-Iran and against Shi'ite militias. But the US has not moved on the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) operating against Turkey from Khaftanin and Qanimasi in northern Iraq. The PKK wants to create a Kurdish state out of south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Iraq, north-eastern Syria and north-western Iran. The PKK rebellion, which has hit Turkey the hardest, has led to the deaths of 35,000 Turks (including 5,000 soldiers) and cost the Turks billions of dollars.

Khalilzad's patronage and his farewell tour of Kurdistan has set off red sirens in Turkey, which is threatening an invasion of northern Iraq if PKK activity against its territory continues.

According to US media reports, the Bush administration is funding Iranian Kurds to destabilise the Shi'ite theocracy, making the threat to Turkey more serious. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul says 3,800 PKK guerrillas operate from northern Iraq, under the watchful eye of the Americans, against south-eastern Turkey. Gul has said: "We will do what we have to do, we will do what is necessary. Nothing is ruled out. I have said to the Americans many times: suppose there is a terrorist organisation in Mexico attacking America. What would you do?"

Murat Karayilan, a PKK leader, acknowledges the Turkish threat is real, and unless diverted, could lead to a "mad war". This would be disastrous for Iraq and the US and would ruin Maliki.

To date northern Iraq has been the most stable region since the US-led invasion in 2003. Violence in Kurdistan could spill over into more violence in central and southern Iraq. Last summer, Turkey mobilised 250,000 troops against the PKK (nearly double the number of US troops in Iraq), and Iran began attacking PKK offices in Iraq. Both countries cited self-defence, despite loud objections from Maliki.

At the time, the Turkish message to Iraq was: "They [PKK] are the infiltrators and we are protecting our border. Do not allow the terror network to use your territory. Fight against the terrorists who will only terrorise you in the future". Another communique issued by Turkey told the Iraqis: "We are not considering ending our activity there [in Iraq] for as long as the PKK is present and active in that area".

Gen Hilmi Ozkok, commander of the Turkish army, asked whether Turkey planned to seek US permission before further invasions of Iraq, replied: "We cannot take a decision of that kind based on the US. Every country is sovereign. Every country makes its own decisions. If the conditions change, you act by the changing conditions". Then, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Ankara to get the Turks to back down.