SAUDI ARABIA: IRAQI SUNNIS AND SHIITES TO SIGN PEACE DECLARATION

Mecca, 20 Oct. (AkI) - Iraqi Sunni and Shiite religious leaders are due on Friday to ink a 10-point peace accord in the holy Saudi city of Mecca aimed at ending the sectarian bloodbath in Iraq, pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reported. Representatives from the Sunni Ulema Council - Iraq's highest Sunni religious authority - and Shiite clerics from the holy Shiite city of Najaf will attend the signing of the document, which condemns the slaying of civilians and the destruction of mosques, and calls for the withdrawal of American troops and for national unity.

At least 100 civilians are being killed each day in Iraq, according to the United Nations. The latest figures from the Iraqi health ministry stated that 2,667 people were killed in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad during September, 400 more than in August.

In July and August, 6,599 people were killed across the country, of which 5,106 were killed in Baghdad, according to the UN.