http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050628/world.htm#1US officials meeting insurgents in Iraq
Ashish Kumar Sen writes from Washington
June 2005
Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Sunday confirmed a British newspaper report that the US officials had been meeting some insurgents in Iraq.
The US military officials say the talks are part of a US plan to create a rift between Iraqi and foreign insurgents.
Doing a round of the Sunday morning television talk shows, Rumsfeld denied these contacts involved terrorist groups that have claimed responsibility for deadly attacks across Iraq.
“There’s no one negotiating with Zarqawi or the people that are out chopping people’s heads off... but they’re certainly reaching out continuously, and we help to facilitate those from time to time,” he said.
Meetings go on “all the time,” Rumsfeld said, adding that Iraq’s government often initiates contact. “I would not make a big deal out of it.” He told Fox News the meetings were part of a plan to “split people off and get some people to be supportive.”
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http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/37/9142Talking with the Enemy
By Michael Ware
Time
Sunday 20 February 2005
Inside the secret dialogue between the U.S. and insurgents in Iraq - and what the rebels say they want.
The secret meeting is taking place in the bowels of a facility in Baghdad, a cavernous, heavily guarded building in the U.S.-controlled green zone. The Iraqi negotiator, a middle-aged former member of Saddam Hussein's regime and the senior representative of the self-described nationalist insurgency, sits on one side of the table. He is here to talk to two members of the U.S. military. One of them, an officer, takes notes during the meeting. The other, dressed in civilian clothes, listens as the Iraqi outlines a list of demands the U.S. must satisfy before the insurgents stop fighting. The parties trade boilerplate complaints: the U.S. officer presses the Iraqi for names of other insurgent leaders; the Iraqi says the newly elected Shi'a-dominated government is being controlled by Iran. The discussion does not go beyond generalities, but both sides know what's behind the coded language.
The Iraqi's very presence conveys a message: Members of the insurgency are open to negotiating an end to their struggle with the U.S. "We are ready," he says before leaving, "to work with you."
In that guarded pledge may lie the first sign that after nearly two years of fighting, parts of the insurgency in Iraq are prepared to talk and move toward putting away their arms--and the U.S. is willing to listen. An account of the secret meeting between the senior insurgent negotiator and the U.S. military officials was provided to TIME by the insurgent negotiator. He says two such meetings have taken place. While U.S. officials would not confirm the details of any specific meetings, sources in Washington told TIME that for the first time the U.S. is in direct contact with members of the Sunni insurgency, including former members of Saddam's Baathist regime. Pentagon officials say the secret contacts with insurgent leaders are being conducted mainly by U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers. A Western observer close to the discussions says that "there is no authorized dialogue with the insurgents" but that the U.S. has joined "back-channel" communications with rebels. Says the observer: "There's a lot bubbling under the surface today."
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