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Sunnis: Attacks end if coalition leaves in 2 years

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 29, 2006

BAGHDAD - Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have offered an immediate halt to all attacks, including those on American troops, if the United States agrees to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq in two years, insurgent and government officials said Wednesday.

Withdrawal is the centerpiece of a set of demands from the groups, which operate north of Baghdad in the heavily Sunni Arab provinces of Salahuddin and Diyala. Although much of the fighting has been to the west, those provinces are increasingly violent and attacks there have crippled oil and commerce routes.

The groups have largely shunned attacks on Iraqi civilians, focusing instead on the U.S.-led coalition forces. Their offer coincides with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's decision to reach out to the Sunni insurgency with a reconciliation plan that includes amnesty.

The Islamic Army in Iraq, Muhammad Army and the Mujahedeen Shura Council - the umbrella group that covers eight militant groups including al-Qaida in Iraq - were not party to offers to the government.

Naseer al-Ani, a Sunni Arab politician and official with the largest Sunni political group, the Iraqi Islamic Party, said that Maliki should encourage the process by guaranteeing security for those making the offer and not immediately reject their demands.

"The government should prove its goodwill and not establish red lines," he said. "If the initiative is implemented in a good way, 70 percent of the insurgent groups will respond positively."

Maliki did not issue an outright rejection of the timetable demand. But he said he could not be certain when the Iraqi army and police would be strong enough to make a foreign presence unnecessary for Iraq's security.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that President Bush's "view has been and remains that a timetable is not something that is useful. It is a signal to the enemies that all you have to do is just wait and it's yours. The goal is not to trade something off for something else to make somebody happy, the goal is to succeed."

There are believed to be about two dozen insurgent organizations in Iraq.

Maliki's offer of amnesty for insurgents would not absolve those who have killed Iraqis or American coalition troops. But proving which individuals have carried out fatal attacks would, in many cases be difficult.

The insurgents have demanded:

Iraqi leader opens e-mail dialogue with insurgents

BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister has set up an e-mail account to communicate with insurgents.

Nouri al-Maliki had the address flashed during a broadcast Sunday night on state-run al-Iraqiya television. It was advertised as an address to which insurgents could write and be assured confidentiality.

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker and close associate of President Jalal Talabani, did not have details about how many electronic messages had been received. But Iraqi presidential security adviser Wafiq al-Samaraie said response has been slow: two messages. The government did not repeat the address after the broadcast to prevent it from being flooded with junk mail.

[Last modified June 29, 2006, 06:23:25]