High-ranking Shiite and Sunni leaders in Iraq are preparing to issue a religious decree condemning suicide bombings and other forms of violence, according to an Anglican minister who has led efforts to bring the two Muslim sects closer.

The draft decree, also called a fatwa, cites Quranic verses and says, “The prophet Mohammed prevents the spilling of blood, Muslim against Muslim, and thus suicide bombings are totally prohibited,” said the Rev. Canon Andrew White during a dinner Monday with Pentagon officials. The draft calls on Iraqis “to reject and forsake all violence, forsake all killing and provocation,” White said.

Shiite and Sunni leaders negotiated the fatwa over several months in Cairo and Denmark, White said. Those leaders included representatives of Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and al-Sadr.

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