Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari ruled out any dialogue with insurgents if he stays in office after elections, saying on Sunday even those who fought only U.S. troops had no place in Iraq. "There is no room for dialogue with anyone who carries arms in Iraq," the Shi'ite Islamist politician told Reuters in an interview.Jaafari's tough comments came five days before parliamentary polls that Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders hope will draw Sunnis into peaceful politics and defuse the insurgency led by the minority sect. Asked how flexible he would be with insurgents who want to disarm and try politics, Jaafari insisted he could not accommodate any militant movements who have sent suicide bombers on missions and killed any Iraqis.
But the former exile also ruled out ties with Iraqi guerrillas, even those who had only fought U.S. forces, whose presence infuriates many Iraqis. He said foreign troops were in Iraq with the blessing of the international community to help stabilise the country. Jaafari's policies contrast sharply with those of his toughest electoral competitor, former prime minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shi'ite who says he is talking with representatives of insurgents and listening to their grievances.