Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Officials have been in talks with insurgent groups.
BAGHDAD (AP) -- The U.S. military announced Monday the capture of leaders of a car-bombing ring blamed for killing hundreds of Iraqis, and the departing U.S. ambassador said Americans are in ongoing talks with insurgent representatives to try to persuade them to turn against al-Qaida.
The U.S. command said one of the car-bombers, Haitham al-Shimari, was suspected in the "planning and execution of the majority of car bombs which have killed hundreds of Iraqi citizens in Sadr City," a Shiite enclave of Baghdad. Another, identified as Haidar al-Jafar, was second-in-command of a cell that killed some 900 "innocent" Iraqis and wounded almost 2,000, the military said. Three other men believed connected to that cell also were in custody.
The suspected bombers were rounded up last week by American forces during continuing security sweeps in Azamiyah, the Sunni stronghold in northern Baghdad, the military statement said.
Talks
In a farewell news conference, outgoing U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said American Embassy and Iraqi officials had talked to people representing insurgent groups. But he ruled out contact with al-Qaida in Iraq, which has been blamed for many suicide bombings.
"We have had discussions with those groups," Khalilzad said. "They are continuing to take place, and I think one of the challenges is how to separate more and more groups away from al-Qaida."
U.S. officials have been working for years to encourage dialogue with Iraqi groups -- including major Sunni insurgent groups, except al-Qaida. Khalilzad has said previously that U.S. officials have met with people linked to the Sunni insurgency, and the new top U.S. general in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said this month that dialogue was necessary because force alone cannot halt the violence.
Against al-Qaida
But Khalilzad said Monday that the talks have shifted from "unreasonable demands" by the groups for a U.S. withdrawal to forming an alliance against al-Qaida. He said the effort has gained support among tribal leaders and even some insurgents.
"Iraqis are uniting against al-Qaida," he said. "Coalition commanders have been able to engage some insurgents to explore ways to collaborate in fighting the terrorists. These insurgents are also in touch with the government seeking reconciliation and cooperation in the fight against the al-Qaida terrorists and joining the government in a reconciliation program."
The Afghan-born diplomat, who has been nominated by President Bush to be ambassador to the United Nations, said the U.S. hopes to build on that momentum.
"We have talked to groups who have not participated in the political process, who have ties with some of the insurgent groups who are reconcilable insurgents," he said. "The terrorists are irreconcilable. There cannot be reconciliation with al-Qaida. They have to be brought to justice, but there are groups that resisted the democratic change, the change in Iraq."
The ambassador said he was cautiously optimistic about efforts to bring stability to Iraq.
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