Watch part two

National reconciliation in Iraq is proving an elusive dream. For five years the fractious Iraqi political elite have failed to set aside their political differences to move the country forward.

Several conferences were convened in Baghdad and Cairo. But the outcome was always a failure to agree on a set of implementable principles. This week Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, has warned of civil war if the current state of paralysis and tension continues.

As the US plans to leave Iraq next year, political strategists warn that Iraq's alarm bells have begun to ring.

Our guests this week are Ayad al-Samarrai, the newly-elected speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Saad Jawad Qandeel, a former Iraqi member of parliament, and Mustafa al-Hiti, an Iraqi member of parliament.

This episode of Inside Iraq aired from Friday, April 24, 2009.