Baghdad (AsiaNews) – Inspired by the initiatives and mediation of the Anglican Church religious heads of Iraq's two Islamic religious communities gathered yesterday for talks in the capital.

The purpose of the Anglican initiative was to gather Sunni and Shiite leaders together to calm feelings of mistrust developing between the religious two groups and to prevent an outburst of internal religion fighting.

During yesterday's meetings Sunni religious leaders appealed to Provisional Government authorities to free Sunni citizens held prisoner.    

The talks ended with the signing an accord called the "Baghdad Declaration of Religious Agreement.

The accord seeks cooperation so as to avoid disagreement among various tribes and religious denominations. All parties promise make efforts to end violence in the country and ask the rest of the world for help this during Iraq's critical period of reconstruction.   

The agreement was signed by Muwaffak al-Rabi'i and Nasir Kamal Al-Giadergi, both members of the Provisional Governing Council. Also signing the agreement were well known Shiite, Sunni and Catholic leaders.

The inter-faith agreement was called a success thanks to the Anglican Church which had been negotiating with the various parties involved for months. (PB). 

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