Iraq's Sunnis must be given a greater role in the political process of the war-torn country in order to prevent the possible rise of organisations even more extreme than ISIS, an Iraqi tribal leader told AFP on Wednesday.
"There is no doubt we must remove and defeat ISIS. But the absence of any political solution or national reconciliation will pave the way for more radical groups to emerge -- some possibly even more radical than ISIS," Sheikh Jamal al-Dhari, a leader of the mixed Sunni and Shiite al-Zoba tribe, said in an interview.
The 50-year-old has set up Peace Ambassadors For Iraq (PAFI), an organization aimed at overcoming his country's bloody sectarian divide between the Sunni minority and politically-dominant Shiite majority.
"Sunnis are caught between the brutality of ISIS and the violence of Tehran-backed [Shiite] terror groups.
"At the same time, the [Shiite-led] Baghdad government has disenfranchised Sunnis from joining a full political process.
"So, it's not about drawing Sunnis away from ISIS; it's about creating a climate that brings Sunnis back into a reformed political process."