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03/19/2006:

"Iraq in civil war, says former PM"

"We are losing each day as an average 50 to 60 people throughout the country, if not more - if this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is."

Iraq is in the middle of civil war, the country's former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi has told the BBC.

He said Iraq had not got to the point of no return, but if it fell apart sectarianism would spread abroad.

The UK and US have repeatedly denied Iraq is facing a civil war, but Mr Allawi suggested there was no other way to describe the sectarian violence.

Analysts say Mr Allawi's comments are part of political manoeuvring as talks continue over creation of a government.

UK Defence Secretary John Reid insisted that the terrorists were failing to drive Iraq into civil war.

Speaking to British troops in Basra, he said he thought the political and religious leaders had shown great restraint.

Those trying to turn one community on another were not succeeding, he added.
bbc.co.uk


Rumsfeld: We're trying to figure out what to do if Iraq falls into civil war
America has begun making plans to deal with a civil war in Iraq, three years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

As sectarian violence continues to claim lives every day, Donald Rumsfeld, the American defence secretary, has disclosed that United States military intelligence is holding war games to predict what might happen in such a situation.

Mr Rumsfeld's admission that "the intelligence community are thinking about this and analysing it" comes despite the White House's insistence that Iraq is not slipping into civil war.