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Iraq is in the middle of civil war, the country's former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi has told the BBC. 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.
"If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is," Mr Allawi said on BBC Two's Sunday AM programme.
UK Defence Secretary John Reid insisted on Saturday that the terrorists were failing to drive Iraq into civil war.
The minister, visiting Baghdad, said there had been steady progress in bringing security and most of the country was under control.
Mr Allawi heads the Iraqi National List, a secular nationalist alliance made up of Sunnis and Shias.
It is unfortunate that we are in civil war Iyad Allawi Former Iraq PM
Speaking on the Sunday AM programme, Mr Allawi said it would be a mistake to underplay Iraq's problems, although the country was "edging towards" a political deal.
He said he had had warned against creating a vacuum in the country and raised concerns about the insurgents and the dismantling of the military.
"It is unfortunate that we are in civil war. 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."
Mr Allawi added that a national unity government may not be "an immediate solution" to the country's problems.
Iraq is moving towards the "point of no return", he said, when the country would fragment and sectarianism would spread throughout the region .
Sectarian violence
Mr Reid said: "There is not civil war now, nor is it inevitable, nor is it imminent."
There is not civil war now, nor is it inevitable, nor is it imminent John Reid Defence Secretary
He said there had been progress and most of the country was under control.
A government of national unity would be the "biggest signal in Iraq that terrorists will not be allowed to do what they are trying to do which is divide Iraqi from Iraqi", he added.
There has been a cycle of sectarian reprisals and revenge killings between Sunnis and Shias.
And the destruction of the Shia shrine at Samarra on 22 February made some observers wonder if the country was heading towards civil conflict.
Fascinating subject to be written about in the textbooks, as will be the pretext to the war and the rule of King George and his scandals and corruptions largely ignored by the " liberal media. "
The barbarous reputation of the United States does not need to be enhanced by such an event as an Iraqi civil war, but the Shai/Sunni conflict seems to be more of a minority fundamentalist conflict. Let them wipe each other out for the good of humanity.
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