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‘US reaching out to Iraq insurgents’

* US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad believes Iraq conflict cannot be solved by military means alone

WASHINGTON: The United States is reaching out for talks with some but not all of the insurgent groups fighting US and Iraqi government forces, US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said on Monday.

Speaking on the ABC television network, Khalilzad said he was open for negotiations with any of the various insurgent groups excepting Saddam Hussein loyalists and followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq.

“We are reaching out to everyone but two groups: the Zarqawi group and associated forces who are jihadists... and the Saddamists. Those who want Saddam Hussein to return,” Khalilzad said.

Khalilzad gave no details of the groups he hoped to negotiate with, but indicated they were of the minority Sunnis who feel excluded from the political process in Iraq.

He added that other governments in the region had been crucial in making contacts with the insurgents.

“If we want an Iraq that works we need to bring the Sunnis into the political process,” he said.

“We have in recent periods sought the help of countries, Sunni Arab countries to facilitate that, to encourage that,” he said.

“I believe you cannot win the kind of conflict we are facing by military means alone... You need to have an integrated approach that wins populations over,” Khalilzad said.

However, he stressed that no overtures could be made to the Zarqawi group, which he said wanted to foment a civil war, or the Saddam supporters.

“Saddamism is dead, it isn’t coming back. I repeat that constantly when I see Sunni leaders.”

“The Sunni outreach, as we call it, aims at isolating these two groups and winning over the population away from them.” afp

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