Both sides rejecting Maliki's settlement offer; both sides want the US to leave

Tha major Sunni groups officially rejected Maliki's settlement offer calling it, "a campaign of public relations for the government."

In his Friday sermon, Shia cleric and leader of the largest Shia militia Muqtada al Sadr also rejected Maliki's settlement deal and matched the Sunni calls for a timetable of US withdrawal.

"I strongly reject reconciliation with three groups -- first the US, the nawasib (the killers of Shiites), and the Baathists" of the deposed Saddam Hussein regime, Sadr said.

"We demand that the occupiers leave and offer a timetable for their withdrawal and not extend their stay here," Sadr said, adding that de-Baathification must be activated fast and "their leader executed".

Also: Make note that in an effort to push his settlement deal, Maliki is travelling to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and UAE, three Sunni neighbors. Much has been made of Iran's assistance and influence over the Shia side of the civil war, but this move leads me to wonder about the degree to which Iraq's Sunni neighbors are currently effecting influence.

Is this an attempt to find another access point in negotiations with the Sunni insurgency, or is there more to it?