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| Iraq |
| Iraq truce hopes after talks |
| 2006-05-02 |
| IRAQI President Jalal Talabani has claimed a ceasefire is possible with seven insurgent groups after a series of meetings with US and Iraqi officials and rebel leaders. "The Americans have entered into negotiations with some of these groups with my blessing," Mr Talabani's office said in a statement. "It is possible to reach an agreement with seven armed groups that visited me." Mr Talabani said he was optimistic a truce could be agreed to as Iraq's leaders continued to bicker over the make-up of the new cabinet. He emphasised that the participants did not include al-Qa'ida terrorists led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or gangs loyal to Saddam Hussein. Both groups claimed to be behind attacks at the weekend that left at least two dozen people dead. A car bomb exploded near the National Theatre in the centre of Baghdad yesterday, killing five people, including three policemen. It is believed US officials joined Mr Talabani in Kurdistan for a summit with insurgents, although Mr Talabani would not say when or where the meetings took place or what the deal could entail. The spokesman of one major insurgent group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, said his organisation had not taken part in such a meeting. US officials have for several months acknowledged holding meetings with intermediaries of homegrown Iraqi insurgent groups, hoping to draw them into the political process. Embassy officials in Baghdad said they were unaware of any new developments that suggested a deal was imminent. "We haven't entered into negotiations. We've had talks. That's what we've been saying all along. We've met with these people," embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton said. "We've had contacts with intermediaries of these groups, encouraging them to join the political process." The contacts have served as part of a broader policy aimed at driving a wedge between the Baathists and religious extremists whose goal is to establish an Islamic state and those Iraqis who see themselves as nationalists fighting a foreign occupier. "The Zarqawi-ists have declared a genocidal war against the Iraqi people, but there are some other groups, excluding the Saddamists and Zarqawi-ists, who have waged armed struggle in order to remove the occupiers," Mr Talabani said. "Those are the ones we are willing to have a dialogue with and include in the political process." US President George W.Bush has often drawn a similar distinction, between the Baath loyalists and al-Qa'ida "terrorists" and the Sunni "rejectionists" who oppose the American presence in Iraq but who US officials believe could be persuaded to join the political process. Mr Talabani's suggestion that a deal is possible could deepen the rift within the ranks of Iraq's insurgency since the contacts began in November. The main Iraqi insurgent groups, including the Islamic Army in Iraq, the 1920 Revolution Brigades, the Mujaheddin Army and the Iraqi Resistance Islamic Front, have denied taking part in any contacts with the US or the Iraqi Government, but several of those groups have clashed openly with Zarqawi loyalists recently. The talk of a deal follows the release last week of a videotape in which Zarqawi sought to rally Iraq's Sunni Arabs behind him, threatening death to any Iraqi who participated in the political process. US officials said the video was an "act of desperation". Zarqawi's group, made up largely of Iraqis but including foreign fighters, is believed to be one of the smaller insurgent organisations. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |