Source:
ReutersWASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.S. officials in Baghdad fear that violence between Sunnis and Shi'ites in some areas will erupt into "ethnic cleansing" with the departure of U.S. forces, a government watchdog said on Thursday.
The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction warned in a report that lower levels of sectarian violence attributed to President George W. Bush's surge strategy have not produced lasting political reconciliation in Baghdad and its neighboring Diyala province.
"Some of (the) districts and neighborhoods remain too 'hot' for reconciliation to take place," said the SIGIR report, which included a review of Bush's diplomatic initiative to stabilize Iraq with provincial reconstruction teams consisting of U.S. civilian and military officials.
"In areas that included mixed Sunni-Shia populations, we were told, the departure of U.S. forces would produce open battlegrounds of ethnic cleansing," the report said.
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