The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden has consulted on Iraq with the leaders of Turkey and Bahrain, two countries with a major stake there.

Biden spoke to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (REH’-jehp TY’-ihp UR’-doh-wahn) on Monday. The White House says they both deplored the actions of the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Biden also called for Turkish and other hostages to be released immediately.

Biden also spoke with Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. He’s a Sunni. But Bahrain, like Iraq, is majority-Shiite.

The White House says Biden and the king agreed that Iraq’s leaders must set aside sectarianism to confront the ISIL threat.

Biden has been speaking regularly with Iraqi and world leaders as the U.S. seeks to curb a sectarian uprising in Iraq.

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