Iraqi government wary of Sunni cooperation

BAGHDAD, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- An Iraqi government committee warned that Sunni splinter groups that have been cooperating with U.S. forces threaten the country’s security.

Al-Qaida in Iraq in the Diali directorate has fragmented into a number of groups, the security committee report said.

Members of parliament were divided on the report, The Kuwaiti News Agency KUNA reported.

The split followed sectarian lines. Salim Abdullah, a member of parliament representing the Sunni Iraq list, said that cooperation from militant splinter groups was essential to ending al-Qaida operations in the area, while Hadi Al-Aameri from the Shiite Alliance said that they should be brought under control of the national police and their access to arms limited.

The government is dominated by Shiites with support from the Kurdish minority.