Monday, March 26, 2007
U.S., Iraqi officials in talks with Sunni insurgent groups
Security, Politics
(Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi officials are in contact with representatives of some Sunni Arab insurgent groups to build an alliance against al Qaeda in Iraq, the outgoing U.S. ambassador said on Monday. At his final news conference in Baghdad, he confirmed reports that U.S. embassy and military staff as well as Iraqi government officials had met representatives of insurgent-linked groups on several occasions.
"That process is continuing," he said. "One of the main challenges is how to separate more and more groups away from al Qaeda, how to turn them to cooperate with the Iraqi government against al Qaeda," he said. "That is the strategic objective."
Earlier The New York Times reported that Khalilzad himself had met Sunni insurgent groups, which include nationalists and former Saddam Hussein sympathizers, such as the Islamic Army in Iraq, a large group of former Baathists and ex-army officers once loyal to the former president, Saddam Hussein. Iraqi government officials are known to have had contact with insurgent groups in the past but these have never really amounted to much as the groups' main demand has been for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Khalilzad said their key concern had shifted toward how to fight al Qaeda during recent talks. He said he did not want to give too many details about who was involved in the talks given "al Qaeda's efforts to derail such efforts." Al Qaeda militants have launched of a string of attacks on a group of tribes in western Anbar province that have formed an alliance against the hardline Sunni Islamist group. U.S. commanders in Anbar have been promoting the tribal alliance against al Qaeda as crucial to ending the violence.
"We have had discussions with various groups," Khalilzad said. "They have taken place, they are continuing to take place. I did not say we've talked to terrorists, we've talked to groups who have not participated in the political process who have ties to some insurgents who are reconcilable."
"That process is continuing," he said. "One of the main challenges is how to separate more and more groups away from al Qaeda, how to turn them to cooperate with the Iraqi government against al Qaeda," he said. "That is the strategic objective."
Earlier The New York Times reported that Khalilzad himself had met Sunni insurgent groups, which include nationalists and former Saddam Hussein sympathizers, such as the Islamic Army in Iraq, a large group of former Baathists and ex-army officers once loyal to the former president, Saddam Hussein. Iraqi government officials are known to have had contact with insurgent groups in the past but these have never really amounted to much as the groups' main demand has been for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Khalilzad said their key concern had shifted toward how to fight al Qaeda during recent talks. He said he did not want to give too many details about who was involved in the talks given "al Qaeda's efforts to derail such efforts." Al Qaeda militants have launched of a string of attacks on a group of tribes in western Anbar province that have formed an alliance against the hardline Sunni Islamist group. U.S. commanders in Anbar have been promoting the tribal alliance against al Qaeda as crucial to ending the violence.
"We have had discussions with various groups," Khalilzad said. "They have taken place, they are continuing to take place. I did not say we've talked to terrorists, we've talked to groups who have not participated in the political process who have ties to some insurgents who are reconcilable."
Labels: Al Qaeda, Baathists, Fomer Regime Elements, insurgents, Islamic Army in Iraq
