Sunni-Shiite tensions have led to one of the most violent incidents after the January 15 parliamentary elections.

According to Reuters, in a city south of Baghdad, Sunni insurgents slaughtered 11 members of a Shiite family by cutting their throats. According to the police, insurgents had warned victims to move out of the neighborhood, which is inhabited mostly by Sunnis.

In an attempt to settle the conflicts which are keeping Iraq in a constant state of turmoil, the Kurdish President Jalal Talabani met with the Shiite leader Aziz al-Hakim in a mountain resort.

"Among the things we discussed was the possibility of getting others involved in forming the next government," Reuters quoted Hakim as saying during a news conference.

Unlike Kurds and Shiites, the Sunnis refuse to take part in any negotiations and continue to criticize the election results.

"There will be no negotiations about forming the new government. We will not have any dialogue about it, not with the Kurds and not with the Shiiites. Results should be reviewed and announced first," said Hussein al-Falluji, a leader of Sunni coalition, the Iraqi Accordance Front.

After the December 15 elections, which took place without any significant incidents, Iraq is witnessing once again terrorist attacks aimed at the Shiite population.

Ten Iraqi policemen and soldiers lost their lives yesterday in an area north of Baghdad, when guerilla forces stormed a checkpoint.

Baghdad was also harmed by the attacks, the explosions of four car bombs killing five and wounding other fifteen.

The incidents came shortly after three political groups threatened a wave of protests and civilian disobedience if the fraud charges were not properly investigated.

Yesterday, a suicide attacker killed four policemen and wounded other four at a checkpoint near the Interior Minister in Baghdad.