Baghdad, Iraq - Sunni and Shiite religious scholars came together in Baghdad on Monday to form a new inter-sect Muslim council and called for an end to the both the US occupation and violent extremism.
Under the slogan "the unity of the scholars symbolises the unity of the Iraqi people," some 40 clerics, both Sunni and Shiite, formed the Union of Muslim Scholars, the first body of its kind.
While none of Iraq's truly influential religious leaders were present, the major trends in Muslim thought were represented and the delegates pledged to heal the rifts tearing the society apart.
"We call on the people, especially the sons of the tribes, to reject the gangs and violent mobs and their failed satanic plans and present a united front against the extremists trying to destroy Iraq," a closing statement said.
Since the US-led invasion of March 2003 and the dissolution of the largely secular ruling Baath party, Iraqis have increasingly looked to religious figures for leadership.
The main Sunni organisation, the Muslim Scholars Association, however, took a very hard line towards working with the new Shiite-dominated political system while many Shiite clerics had little good to say about the Sunnis.
The scholars called on politicians to end their bickering, and heal their rifts so that the foreign occupation of Iraq can end as soon as possible.
The scholars described the spiral of violence gripping the country, much of it done in the name of religion, as a foreign import.
"We are confronted now by a culture we have not seen before, a dangerous culture of kidnapping and slaughter," Khaled al-Mulla of the Muslim Scholars Association told the conference.
"We don't want any more of these bad examples imported from outside... the awakenings of Anbar and Baquba are proof of the rejection of this," he said, referring to the tribal alliances recently formed against Al-Qaeda in Iraq om provinces west and north of the capital.
Ahmed al-Bahadly of the Shiite Hawza, the religious schools of Najaf, condemned "strange fatwas" and teachings sanctioning sectarian violence.
"The crimes which have been committed in the name of religion because of faulty understanding have led to attacks on holy places, the sabotage of public utilities and the theft of our wealth," he said.
The scholars pledged to form committees to follow up on their recommendations.