Baghdad, Iraq ? Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians increased pressure Sunday on Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to abandon his bid for a new term, while leaders of Iraq’s Shiite majority struggled to overcome growing internal divisions.

Despite the squabbling, there were reports the new parliament would be called into session for the first time as early as the end of the week, starting the clock on a 60-day period during which it would have to elect a president and approve a prime minister and Cabinet.

The struggle to form a broad-based governing coalition acceptable to all the country’s main groups has been further hampered by the surge in sectarian conflict.

Targeted sectarian violence killed at least five people Sunday. Three men died in a gunfight at a Sunni mosque in Baghdad and two relatives of a top Sunni cleric were slain in a drive-by shooting. Sunnis accused deaths squads allied to the interim government, allegations denied by the Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry.

U.N. envoy to Iraq Ashraf Jehangir Qazi expressed serious concern Sunday about human rights in the country, citing reports of excessive use of force, illegal detention centers and disappearances – many of them the responsibility of insurgents.

Leadership vacuum

The political turmoil has left a dangerous leadership vacuum as Iraq’s armed forces, backed by the U.S. military, battle to contain sectarian violence.

A Kut resident walks past burning tires after a demonstration in Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Thousands of Kut residents took to the streets in an anti-government rally Sunday to protest against fuel shortages and an increase in gasoline prices. The struggle to form a broad-based governing coalition acceptable to all the country's main groups has been further hampered by the surge in sectarian conflict. Pressure mounted Sunday on Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to give up his bid for a new term.

The U.S. government sees a government with participation across Iraq’s communities as a key step toward improving security and weakening support for insurgents, which would allow Washington and its allies to lower troop numbers.

Under the constitution, the Shiites’ United Iraqi Alliance, the largest bloc in parliament, has the first crack at forming a government and chose al-Jaafari as its nominee for prime minister.

But the Alliance has too few seats to act alone. And it is facing a drive by Sunni, Kurdish and some secular parties that want to prevent al-Jaafari from continuing at the end of the government, favoring instead current Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

Abdul-Mahdi lost in the Shiite caucus by one vote to al-Jaafari, who won with the support of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Abdul-Mahdi is backed by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, a powerful Shiite leader who is frequently at odds politically with al-Sadr. Both have strong militias behind them.

Underlining the divisions within the Alliance, some Shiite leaders are troubled by al-Jaafari’s ties to the radical and openly anti-American al-Sadr.

The Sunni Arab minority, meanwhile, blames al-Jaafari for the Shiite militiamen who attacked Sunni mosques and clerics after the Feb. 22 bombing of the shrine in Samarra. More than 500 people died in the violence that followed, according to police and hospitals.

Khalaf al-Olayan, a leader of the main Sunni bloc in parliament, said Iraq has gone from “bad to worse” under al-Jaafari.

“Al-Jaafari’s government failed to solve the chaos that followed the Samarra explosions and did not take any measures to solve the security crisis that could have pushed the country into civil war,” he said in comments posted on the Web site of the Iraqi Accordance Front, a Sunni group.

Kurds are angry because they believe al-Jaafari is holding up resolution of their claims to control the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

“If al-Jaafari tries to form a government, he will not get any kind of cooperation,” said Mahmoud Othman, a leading figure in the Kurdish bloc.

President Jalal Talabani, also a Kurd, was one of the first to publicly initiate the dump-Jaafari movement, calling for a candidate who could build consensus.

Clerics weigh in

Two lawmakers from al-Jaafari’s Dawa Party hinted Saturday that they got an endorsement for their leader during a meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most influential Shiite cleric.

But a senior al-Sistani aide, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the dispute, said Sunday that the spiritual leader indirectly suggested al-Jaafari step aside.

Sunni and Shiite clerics jointly appealed for an end to the violence and called for Muslim unity and the protection of religious sites.

“Extinguish the flames of the sectarian treachery. Every drop of blood shed is a waste,” said the statement by followers of al-Sadr and members of the Sunni Endowment, a government agency responsible for Sunni mosques and shrines.