The brewing political crisis threatened the Shiite dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and could provoke an even more violent surge in sectarian conflict as Iraq teeters on the edge of civil war.
The new upheaval began late Thursday when Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, a Shiite, announced on state television that he had issued the arrest warrant against the leader of the powerful Association of Muslim Scholars, Sheik Harith al-Dhari, for allegedly inciting terrorism and violence.
The move enraged moderate members of Iraq's Sunni minority, who had already threatened over recent weeks to walk out of government and parliament and take up arms. They charged the al-Maliki government with discrimination and failure to act on measures important to the Sunni community and necessary for national reconciliation.
Scholars association spokesman Abdul-Salam al-Kubaisi said the arrest warrant was a cover for "the acts of the government's security agencies that kill dozens of Iraqis every day."
Al-Kubaisi called for Sunni "political groups to withdraw from parliament and the government, which has proven that it is not a national government."
Speaking in the Jordanian capital of Amman, al-Dhari, who has been living outside Iraq for months, said the warrant was timed to hide the government's embarrassment over "its security failures."
Al-Dhari, who is about 65, is an outspoken al-Maliki and the U.S. occupation.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said this week that al-Dhari was a hard-liner with "nothing to do but incite sectarian and ethnic sedition."
Al-Dhari responded Friday, saying: "I do not consider Talabani as Iraq's president and he doesn't represent the Iraqis. Talabani is part of the government. He feels as they feel and he fears what they fear," he told The Associated Press.
The warrant was issued two days after gunmen kidnapped scores of people from a Higher Education Ministry building in Baghdad, deepening the split between Sunni and Shiite factions of the government over the lack of security in Iraq.
The arrest warrant against al-Dhari produced similar confusion.
After al-Bolani announced the warrant was issued, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, also a Shiite, sought to minimize it as an "investigation warrant." The spokesman said it is up to judicial authorities to issue an arrest warrant.
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said the Cabinet and the president's office had no knowledge about the arrest warrant. He called for an urgent meeting of political leaders to review the government's work.
Sunni anger was clear throughout the country with politicians and demonstrations condemning the warrant.
Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi described it as "destructive to the national reconciliation plan." Al-Hashimi urged the government to cancel the warrant immediately.
The Iraqi Peoples Conference of Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, said in a statement the "government should have chased the death squads and militia leaders instead of allowing them to control the country."
In western Baghdad's Sunni al-Shawaf mosque, Sheik Abdul-Karim al-Samarraie denounced what he called "the government's double standards and abominable sectarian biased."
"This government is unable to control the street and arrest criminals. It time to submit its resignation" Al-Samarraie told worshippers during Friday sermon.
Sunni groups hold 55 seats in the country's 275-member parliament as well as nine seats in the 36-member Cabinet.
In Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, more than 2,000 people gathered at the al-Dawla al-Kabir mosque condemning the arrest warrant and calling for its cancellation. Shortly afterward local authorities imposed a curfew at 3 a.m. and until further notice.
Al-Kubaisi, the association's spokesman, also called on Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mousa to condemn "this cowardly act" as contrary to league attempts to promote reconciliation among the country's Shiites and Sunnis.
Meanwhile, the body of Sunni tribal leader Sultan Salman Rekan who was kidnapped in Baghdad Thursday was found in the city of Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, police said.