The possibility of sectarian strife grows daily.

The U.S. military handover of the Sunni Anbar province was hailed as a milestone, but the underlying sectarian conflict in Iraq could erase those gains.Iraqi national security adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubaie and U.S. President George Bush praised the handover as evidence the U.S. “surge” had led to sharp reductions in ethno-sectarian conflict, generating the conditions for improvements in the Iraqi political and security infrastructure.

Tribal leaders in Sunni Awakening Councils in Anbar province, however, warned the region “could be turned into another battlefield of sectarian forces,” Egypt’s al-Ahram Weekly reported Friday.

For his part, Abdul Salam al-Ani, an Anbar provincial councilman and member of the Sunni Islamic Party, blamed the Awakening Council with interfering in political affairs, and many view that position as an indication of fears the Sunni tribal leaders will gain political influence in the coming elections.