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Rebels offer to end attacks on Americans for 2-year pullout timetable
Eleven Sunni insurgent groups working through mediators have offered to immediately stop attacks on American-led forces in Iraq if the Shiite-led government and Washington set a two-year timetable for withdrawing all coalition forces from the country, insurgents and government officials told the Associated Press on Wednesday. Eight of the eleven insurgent groups that have approached Prime Minister Nuri Maliki's government have banded together under the umbrella of the 1920 Revolution Brigade. All 11, however, have issued identical demands, said the insurgent representatives and government officials. They spoke on condition of anomymity because of the sensitivity of the information and for fear of retribution.The groups do not include the powerful Islamic Army in Iraq, Muhammad Army and the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella for eight militant groups including Al Qaeda in Iraq. Most of the 11 groups operate north and northeast of Baghdad in increasingly violent Salahuddin and Diyala provinces. Abu Mussab Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda leader, was killed in a US air strike in Diyala province earlier this month. The total number of insurgents is not known, nor is it known how many men belong to each group. But there are believed to be about two dozen organisations, meaning the 11 that are in contact with the government represent nearly half of the known groups. A key Sunni politician, however, predicted a big majority of insurgents could be enticed to the negotiation table. If the reconciliation initiative is implemented properly, 70 per cent of the insurgent groups will respond positively, said Naseer Ani, an official with the largest Sunni political group, the Iraqi Islamic Party of Vice President Tariq Hashimi. Posted by: Fred 2006-06-29 |
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