Unidentified militants on Wednesday bombed the Ali al-Hadi Mausoleum, also called the al-Hadhrah al-Askariyah, one of the holies Shiite mosques which houses the tombs of Ali al-Hadi, who died in 868 A.D., and his son Hassan al-Askari who died in 874 A.D. The two saints are the 10th and 11th of the Shiite's 12 most revered Imams.

Iraqi  soldiers are on guard outsdie a Shi'ite moaque. [Xinhua/AFP]

    The shrine attack immediately outraged the Shiite community who blamed Sunnis for the explosion and attacked Sunni mosques in retaliation. The riots have left at least 160 people dead and over 170 mosques attacked.

    Late Saturday, Iraqi leaders reached an agreement to continue efforts to form a new government and defuse escalating violence. Top Iraqi leaders, along with the U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, called for an end to sectarian feud after a three-hour meeting on Saturday.

    After the meeting, Iraqi political leaders said that they are committed to forming a national unity government. "All the leaders perceived the need to accelerate the political process and to sign a national pact between all the different political parties," Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari told a televised news conference after the meeting.

    "If I have any good news to say, it is that Iraq is far away from a civil war. There is Shiite against a Sunni or a Muslim against a non-Muslim," he added.

    In his statement, Jaafari promised help to repair dozens of damaged mosques and compensation for properties and those killed in the aftermath of the Samarra blast.

    Also on Sunday, Iraq's firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadrru shed into limelight by calling for a Muslim unity to evict U.S.troops or to set a timetable for their withdrawal from Iraq."I want you Sunnis and Shiites to hold joint and peaceful demonstrations in the capital," Sadr said in Basra following a Middle East tour.

    Sadr, who enjoys tremendous popularity in certain areas and plays an increasingly important role in Iraq's politics, also offered his initiative by calling on both Sunnis and Shiites to hold joint prayers in the attacked mosques, saying there are no Sunni or Shiite mosques but Muslim mosques.

    In another high-profile cross-sectarian move to bridge the gap between the two sects, members of Sadr's Current met Saturday with their counterparts of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a key Sunni body.

    The two sides signed an agreement to put a lid on the ongoing sectarian violence at Abu Hanifa mosque in Baghdad. The agreement stated that the Sadr Current and the Sunni association would establish a joint fact-finding committee to investigate the recent violence and bring those responsible to justice. Enditem