Iraqi prime minister says national reconciliation nearly complete

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said economic and security progress showed that reconciliation between the nation's feuding factions was close to being completed. Speaking to reporters in Stockholm on Friday, Maliki said that this doesn't mean "everyone gets an equal piece of the pie but it means that one must show a commitment for a unified, democratic Iraq." Maliki's Shi'ite-dominated government is under pressure to show progress in reconciliation among the country's Sunni Arabs, Shi'ites and Kurds. Maliki also met with Sweden's prime minister on Friday, a day after a UN conference.