ABU GHRAIB, Iraq -- The meeting was billed as a routine news conference to show off a new government center in this town west of Baghdad -- known to Iraqis for the infamous prison as well as for the deep distrust between the Shiite-led central government and the Sunni tribes that reside here.

But tribal leaders had something they wanted to say, and they weren't going to follow the day's script.

They wanted the government to spell out plans for public works projects they have promised to improve living conditions. They reminded government officials of the necessity to partner with Sunni tribes to bolster security and stave off threats from insurgent cells.

''The problem in Iraq is with the politicians, not the sheiks,'' said Sheik Hussein Khamiss al Souhel, one of the tribal leaders in the Abu Ghraib area.

GRAND OPENING

That freewheeling and good-natured conversation suited the U.S. Army officers who brought reporters to the site Saturday for the government center's ribbon-cutting.

It drew together high-ranking officers in the mostly Shiite army, representatives of the Shiite-led government and the Sunni tribal sheiks -- an assemblage that the U.S. military hopes will turn into an alliance in order to sustain security gains of recent months.

Abu Ghraib is known as the notorious prison on its outskirts where Saddam Hussein once tortured his political opponents, and where U.S. troops were charged with gross abuses of detained Iraqi suspects. But it was also a flash point for Sunni-Shiite tensions in 2007. Sunnis felt targeted by the Shiite-led Iraqi army unit in the town.

The turning point came over the past year as Sunni tribesmen formed their own militias and began working with the U.S. military to force out extremists affiliated with al Qaeda in Iraq. The U.S. military paid monthly stipends to about 100,000 men in the militias.

The $350,000 government center was built with cash from the U.S. military and with funds from Iraq's central government.

''This is a first -- to get this cast of characters sitting together,'' said Army Lt. Col. Jimmy Orrick.

Orrick, from Memphis, Tenn., spent the past year working with his Iraqi counterparts on a military transition team in Abu Ghraib.

''Security is stable now, and in the future, it will be much, much better,'' sheik Souhel said.

Souhel said, however, that those improvements feel tenuous.

Al Qaeda in Iraq is still strong in Abu Ghraib, he said, though it has retreated into sleeper cells. Americans aren't claiming victory, either.

Roads around this community were frequent sites for attacks against American patrols. They're down to one or two a week, and they produce fewer casualties.

Nonetheless, Iraqi officials see a window to build on their gains.

`THE BEGINNING'

They promised programs to resettle displaced Iraqis who have fled their homes because of sectarian violence, and a new sewer system for Abu Ghraib residents.

''This kind of center will be the beginning,'' said Subhi al Mashdani, leader of Baghdad's commission on services. ``All the sheiks and civilian authorities will have a role to play and we'll get back to the good things we had before.''

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