BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's interim prime minister went to Jordan for meetings with tribal figures and other influential Iraqis in a bid to encourage Sunni Muslims to participate in the Jan. 30 elections, but he ruled out contacts with insurgent leaders and former members of Saddam Hussein's deposed regime. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who arrived in Amman late Tuesday, sought to play down expectations that his meetings would mark a breakthrough in curbing the violence, saying Jordan was simply the first stop on a tour that would take him to Germany and Russia. Before leaving Baghdad, Allawi said his government would pursue contacts with "tribal figures" and other influential Iraqis to encourage broad participation in the elections, which some Sunni clerics have threatened to boycott. But Allawi branded reports that he would meet with former Baath party figures as "an invention by the media," although word of such contacts came last week from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. Former Baath party leaders are strongly believed to form the core of the insurgency.
Ministry officials had said that Arab governments urged the Iraqi authorities to make contacts with Iraqi exiles and opposition figures during a conference last week at the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheik. Arab officials fear that without some overture by the Iraqi government toward Sunni Arab insurgents, many Sunnis may boycott the Jan. 30 elections, thus leaving themselves and their Arab buddies in other nations with bupkis calling into question the legitimacy of the new administration.
Bahrain offered to host an Iraqi reconciliation conference. On Tuesday, however, Allawi told the Iraqi National Council, a government advisory and oversight group, that there would be "no conference in Amman" but that his government wanted contacts with "important tribes," many of which maintained links to Saddam's regime. He mentioned by name two tribal figures - both sons of a prominent sheik from the insurgent-plagued Ramadi area west of Baghdad. However, Ramadi residents said the family is known for its ties to the Americans and that some members moved to Jordan after suicide attacks on their family compound. Allawi's staff declined to discuss planned meetings in Amman or to explain the apparent inconsistencies. However, it appeared the government may have been reluctant to pursue reconciliation with Saddam loyalists - at least publicly - because of pressure from Shiites.
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