The Iraqi Government hosted a meeting of former army officers yesterday as it intensified its campaign to woo the country’s Sunni population away from deadly insurgent groups.

Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, said that the meeting was part of a drive for national reconciliation. It came a day after President Ahmadinejad of Iran, the most radical Shia country, visited King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the most influential Sunni-led kingdom, to discuss how to cool the sectarian tensions that threaten to overwhelm the region.

The former army officers are a vital link in drawing the Iraqi communities together. The conference discussed raising the meagre pensions given to former generals and colonels as well as bringing many of them back to the military almost four years after the USled occupation dissolved the old army – a move widely seen as having given birth to the lethal insurgency.

Mr Maliki said: “Whoever wants to oppose the Government should do it through constitutional institutions. Some give themselves the right to oppose the Government through force. But why are you sabotaging the Government? Why are you destroying the electricity and oil? They want to go back to their previous lives through bloodshed and criminal actions.”

Mr Maliki’s Government has been criticised for not vigorously pursuing peace or taking on Shia militias, aligned with his ruling coalition. Efforts aimed at the Sunni minority have stalled since May when the Government was formed.

- Iraqi special forces backed by British troops raided the Interior Ministry’s intelligence headquarters in Basra and uncovered evidence of torture and links to bomb attacks. Nearly 40 prisoners were released.

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