Padrig O'Malley, a University of Massachusetts-Boston professor, told The Boston Globe the closed-door weekend meetings in Helsinki resulted in agreement on 13 broad principals that will be the basis of future negotiations.

"Progress has been made," said O'Malley, who helped organize the discussions, which were not sponsored by any government agencies.

The participants included four tribal sheiks plus representatives of various Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties. They discussed strategies for issues such as eliminating corruption, disarming militias and protecting the rights of minorities.

Conspicuously absent, the Globe said, were followers of cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose militia has been clashing with Iraqi and U.S. forces. The Globe said the Sadr group had planned to attend but canceled at the last minute.