Al Qaeda pushing Iraq towards civil war, says envoy to U.S.

Iraq's envoy to the United States has said Al Qaeda is trying to push the nation towards a civil war.

Lukman Faily said the levels of violence in Baghdad have increased in recent months blaming pro-democracy uprisings for creating a power vacuum, the Washington Times reports.

Faily said Iraq's security has been adversely affected by extremism and sectarianism as well as by the ongoing civil war in neighboring Syria.

Al Qaeda in Iraq has also forged ties with Islamists fighting the Assad regime in Syria, the report added.

The statement came after six people were killed and dozens wounded in bombings in northern and central Iraq on Wednesday.

The United Nations estimated that more than 4,000 people have been killed in Iraq since April in Muslim violence between the rival Sunni and Shiite sects, the report added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki urged Iraqis to support his government's counter-terrorism campaign.