Former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shia and former Baathist, is planning a reconciliation conference that he hopes will bring together as many Iraqi factions as possible, according to a report:

Former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi's National Accordance Movement (NAM) is preparing for an expanded conference in April to discuss political crises and national reconciliation in a war-torn Iraq, al-Hayat newspaper said on Tuesday.

"The movement is preparing for this conference in light of apparent failure of the government to tackle political crises tearing the country apart," the London-based paper's Saudi edition quoted NAM politburo member Rasem al-Awwadi as saying.

My own sources, including those close to Allawi, say that the former Iraqi leader is trying to organize a front that would include Shia tribal leaders from Iraq's south, many of whom are fiercely opposed to the dominance of the religious parties there, along with leaders of the Sunni tribal powers, the Awakening movement, and even some members of the armed resistance. The intent is to create a broad, nationalist movement including both Sunni and Shia.