WASHINGTON (AP) - Vice President Joe Biden has consulted on Iraq with the leaders of Turkey and Bahrain, two countries with a major stake there. <br />
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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. <br />
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Biden also spoke with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. He's a Sunni. But Bahrain, like Iraq, is majority-Shiite. <br />
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The White House says Biden and the king agreed that Iraq's leaders must set aside sectarianism to confront the ISIL threat. <br />
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Biden has been speaking regularly with Iraqi and world leaders as the U.S. seeks to curb a sectarian uprising in Iraq.
