Iraq's Sunni Muslims took further steps to bolster their ranks, launching a new committee responsible for issuing fatwas, or religious edicts.
The announcement was made Thursday at the Al-Nida mosque in the presence of Adnan al-Dulaimi, the head of Iraq's Sunni religious administration, or Waqf, and representatives of other Sunni movements like the Islamic Brotherhood and the Suffis.
Sheikh Abdul Kader al-Ani, who was chosen to head the committee, said the new body "will not be a political party, but will focus on uniting the ranks of Sunnis to support sober Sufi religious teaching and thinking."
He called for unity among all of Iraq's ethnic groups -- Sunnis, Shiites, Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen -- "in ending occupation and the transfer of power to Iraqis."
The latest move by the Sunnis came after the formation of a unified council on December 25 to represent the interests of Iraq's Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen Sunni communities.
Iraq's minority Sunnis, who have held the reins of power in modern Iraq since its creation in the 1920s and from whose ranks former dictator Saddam Hussein hails, feel marginalized under the post-war situation.