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Iraq

Amid hopes for Iraq talks, 32 die

BAGHDAD - A Sunni Arab politician said Tuesday that two insurgent groups were willing to negotiate with the government, possibly opening a new political front in embattled Iraq. But a string of deadly bombings signaled that militants remain fierce.

The former Cabinet minister said he had established contact with the groups, which account for a large part of the Sunni insurgents and were responsible for attacks against Iraqis and foreigners.

It was the first public disclosure that such negotiations might be in the offing with specific groups, but independent confirmation was not possible. The government declined to comment.

At least 32 lives were claimed in the day's violence, which included four explosions within seven minutes in and around Hawija, 40 miles southwest of Kirkuk, and the killings of a Sunni cleric and a Foreign Ministry employee. The fatalities pushed the death toll to 879 in the 51/2 weeks since the government was formed.

Former Electricity Minister Ayham al-Samarie told the Associated Press that the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Army of Mujahedeen - or holy warriors - were ready to open talks with the Shiite-led government aimed at joining the political process.

Samarie, an Illinois Institute of Technology graduate who holds dual U.S. and Iraqi citizenship, said the two groups represent more than 50 percent of the "resistance." He excluded al-Qaida in Iraq, which has carried out some of the bloodiest attacks and is headed by a non-Iraqi, Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

U.S. military officials believe about 12,000 to 20,000 fighters, including supporters, make up the insurgency.

The Islamic Army in Iraq, most active in Baghdad and the region directly to the south, generally avoids bombings. Besides attacks against U.S. forces, it has claimed responsibility for assassinations of Iraqi government officials and the killings of an Italian journalist and Pakistani contractors. It released two French journalists in December 2004 after holding them for 124 days.

It claims thousands in its ranks and says its members are predominantly Iraqi. According to insurgent statements, the group has at times collaborated with the al-Qaida in Iraq network and the Ansar al-Sunnah Army.

Less is known about the Mujahedeen Army, but it has claimed responsibility for scores of attacks, including the April downing of a helicopter carrying 11 civilians, among them six Americans, and the kidnapping of Indonesian journalists who were released unharmed in February.

In Hawija, the first explosion, caused by a roadside bomb, killed no one. But the next three killed 18, with the deadliest coming at a checkpoint in Dibis, on Hawija's outskirts - which killed 10. At least 39 people were wounded.

Two U.S. Marines also died Monday after separate roadside bombings near Fallujah, the military said Tuesday. A U.S. soldier died of noncombat-related injuries near the Baghdad airport.

As of Tuesday, at least 1,673 U.S. military members have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

BAGHDAD - Iraq's government backed away Tuesday from an earlier announcement that Saddam Hussein would stand trial within two months and said no date had been fixed.

Laith Kuba, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's spokesman, who earlier in the week indicated that Hussein could go on trial within two months, told reporters that a date for the start of the trial was in the hands of Iraq's Special Tribunal. He referred all questions to the tribunal, where an official said the trial date was not set.

[Last modified June 8, 2005, 01:08:09]