Ban calls on Iraqis to resolve differences

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- With 2012 marking a new era for Iraq without U.S. forces in the county, dialogue should rule the day, the U.N. secretary general said.

U.S. forces left Iraq last year following more than eight years of military engagement. Since then, Iraqi lawmakers have split largely along sectarian lines.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, in a statement issued through his spokesman, said all parties needed to resolve differences through meaningful dialogue.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wants Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi arrested on charges he helped finance a death squad in the country. Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has called for early elections and members of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya slate have suspended their role in the Iraqi Council of Representatives.

"It is essential that pending political issues are resolved in a way that respects the constitution and its provisions for the separation of powers, the rule of law and an independent judiciary," Ban's statement read.

The Voices of Iraq news agency reports Wednesday that a meeting between rival political groups in Iraq ended with no resolutions. The meeting ended when members of Iraqiya wanted to discuss Hashemi's case, the report added.