Tale of two sheikhs reveals Iraq's tensions In a vast meeting room at his home in Ramadi, Sheikh Awad Ali Hussein described the bloody battle to drive al-Qaeda from western Iraq, rising suddenly from his seat and lifting his brown robe to reveal an array of terrible scars. Pointing in turn to a 12-in weal across his stomach, a lacerated right knee and a small crater on his back, he complained that his sacrifices seemed to count for nothing with national rulers who he said were now apparently bent on crushing him and his fellow Sunni Muslims. IN Iraq "The behaviour of the government is not just," he railed. There will be many problems in Iraq - and maybe it will be divided. The sheikh's injuries highlight a story of growing political tension within and between Iraq's religious and ethnic groups since the US military occupation ended in December . While people on all sides say the problem is assuming dangerous dimensions, no solution is in sight - and some Iraqis fear a return to civil war and a de facto partitioning of the country. "If you look at Iraq, you get the impression it must be divided into three states," said Hadi Jalu, president of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, a non-governmental group, referring to the country's Shia, Sunni and Kurdish populations. The rise of sectarianism has become a pervasive topic of conversation in Iraq since the end of the near nine-year US military presence. While many ordinary Iraqis of all backgrounds mingle and call movingly for tolerance and peace, the narrative's darker edge can be seen in the concrete blast walls surrounding Baghdad neighbourhoods that were once mixed but are now dominated by one or other group. At a political level, the country was rocked when - immediately after the departure of US troops - the Shia-led coalition government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a warrant for the arrest on terrorism charges of Tariq al-Hashemi, the vice-president and most senior Sunni Arab official. Mr Hashemi - who denied the allegations and has fled the country - claimed this week that two of his bodyguards detained over the case had died after being tortured in custody, an accusation dismissed by the government. In a separate dispute, authorities in the country's semi-autonomous Kurdish region last week halted oil exports over a payment dispute with Baghdad. A few days later, a national conference aimed at resolving disagreements between the countries" main political blocs was postponed. Sadiq al-Rikabi, a Shia parliamentarian close to Mr Maliki, denied Sunni were being marginalised, but acknowledged "internal tensions" in the country that needed to be debated. Ramadi is something of a crucible for the bitterest internal dispute between leaders of the Sunni and the Shia, who form a majority of Iraq's population and were persecuted for decades by the Sunni-controlled dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. A 90-minute drive from Baghdad, it is the capital of the Sunni heartland of Anbar province, which runs all the way to Syria. In a house across town from Sheikh Awad's compound, Khamis Abtan, a provincial council member, accused the government of discriminating against Sunni in areas from education to religious freedom. "We are looking for human rights - and life chances," said Mr Abtan. We need stability and security. Elsewhere in Ramadi, there were hints of a community divided among itself. In yet another sitting room, Sheikh Hameed al-Hayis praised Mr Maliki as he held court against a clatter of teacups and backdrop of wartime memorabilia. Like Sheikh Awad, Sheikh Hameed is a member of the Anbar Salvation Council, a group set up to fight al-Qaeda between 2006 and 2008. He too has suffered - he says he was kidnapped and tortured, and nine of his family members were killed - but he blames the prime minister's opponents for the instability. "The people are together but the politicians are different," he said. Ramadi's tale of two sheikhs is a disturbing reminder that the end of repression by a minority group can all too easily be displaced by a perilous mix of a tyranny of the majority and political fragmentation. "Iraq is going to something uneven," Sheikh Awad predicted: "It will be many states and provinces and regions - and many disasters will happen here."