BAGHDAD, Aug 26: A powerful Iraqi politician on Saturday called for the Shia south of the country to become an autonomous region as the embattled prime minister called on tribal leaders to work together for peace.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned a gathering of tribal sheikhs from across the country that Iraq would not be free from foreign occupation until its rival sects and ethnic groups agreed to live together.

At the same time one of Iraq’s most influential politicians called for the vast and oil-rich Shia region south of the capital to become a self-governing area stretching from Najaf to Basra.

Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said a referendum should be called in the region to endorse a breakaway — an idea which is fiercely opposed by Sunni leaders.

“Our biggest assurance to our people is that federalism be implemented in the centre and south of Iraq,” said Aziz Hakim, according to a statement issued by his movement’s office in Najaf.

“This is a guarantee to our sons and grandsons that injustice will not be revived,” Mr Hakim was quoted as saying, referring to the period under former president Saddam Hussein, during which Shias complained of persecution.

Mr Hakim’s statement came as Mr Maliki welcomed hundreds of hereditary chieftains — the leaders of clans and tribes to which all Iraqis owe varying degrees of allegiance — to talks in Baghdad aimed at halting a surge in violence.

“Iraq cannot be built by violence, but through serious dialogue. Liberating our country from the presence of foreign forces cannot be done without unity and national consensus,” Mr Maliki told delegates.

“This cannot be done without the role of tribes which represent the fabric of Iraq ... A tribe should play an essential role in confronting terrorism and shut the doors for sectarian violence,” he added.

Calls for autonomous regions put Mr Maliki in a difficult position as he struggles to hold together a fractious coalition of national unity.

Federalism has support among his own Shia constituency and the Kurdish minority in the north, but is opposed by many Sunnis.—AFP