"Our efforts now are aimed at solving the problems of the people and forming an interim government," said Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, deputy leader of a main Shiite Muslim group, the Supreme Assembly for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two main Kurdish factions, said the five would hold another round of talks with US officials in Baghdad today.
The other groups are the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani, the US-backed Iraqi National Congress of Ahmad Chalabi and the Iraqi National Accord movement of Iyad Alawi.
But in an indication that the task of doing away with remnants of the old regime was not finished yet, the Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald said yesterday that its staff in Baghdad had obtained an audiotape allegedly recorded Monday by Saddam.
In the recording a "tired-sounding" voice calls on Iraq's people to unite in an underground war against the US-led occupying forces, the paper reported, saying Iraqis had identified it as Saddam speaking.
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