BAGHDAD – Iraqis, having lived through years of sectarian warfare, are unlikely to revert to mass violence as they sort out their future, the top U.S. diplomat to Baghdad told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Ryan Crocker, a veteran Middle East diplomat who intends to finish his tour in the Iraqi capital in January, said it may take decades for the country to settle its many political, economic and social problems.

And while he would not rule out a return to widespread sectarian violence – which has virtually ceased in recent months – Crocker said the main indicators of change in Iraq point toward an eventual reconciliation.

He cited a “powerful force” of popular sentiment in Iraq that has underpinned the decline in violence. He was referring to Iraqis' rejection of extremists on both the Sunni and the Shiite side – a development that has given U.S. officials hope that the insurgents may no longer have a foundation from which to fight.

Crocker said the change in Iraqi views toward their sectarian rivalries were a long time in coming.

“And it would probably take quite a bit to shift it back,” he said, speaking in his office at the U.S. Embassy overlooking the Tigris. “You talk to people (Iraqis), and they just say, 'Never again. We almost destroyed ourselves.' There is almost a kind of embarrassment over it: 'How could we, Iraqis, do that?' “

Crocker said he sees signs that more ordinary Iraqis welcome the less violent period that is now emerging.

“One of the encouraging factors is that as violent and as vicious as that sectarian fighting was, it's kind of an anomaly here,” he said. “Yes, there are sectarian differences and Saddam's government really went after the non-Sunni populations, both Kurds and Shiites, but that broadly is seen as Saddam, not the will of the Sunni people.” Historically, he said, the sects have coexisted and intermingled.

He said the insurgency that began with Sunni dissidents, including senior figures in former President Saddam Hussein's Baath party, has been so weakened in recent months that it poses no serious threat to the government.

“Under current circumstances, it's not a threat and arguably not even much of a challenge any more,” he said. “There isn't a whole lot left of that insurgency, at least certainly in an active sense.”

At the same time, Crocker said that al-Qaeda, while currently on its heels, could not be ruled out as a future threat here.

The ambassador also said he sees almost no chance that provincial elections scheduled for October will take place earlier than December. He described himself as cautiously optimistic that the government will work out the compromises needed to pass legislation required before the landmark elections can be held.

Iraq's presidential council on Wednesday rejected a draft provincial elections law and sent it back to parliament for reworking. That was a blow to U.S. hopes that the vote could be held this year.

The election is seen as an important step toward giving the Sunni minority a bigger voice in government decisions about such matters as budgets, public services and other matters that have been dominated by the majority Shiites.