Sunni group endorses Iraq's reconciliation plan

A chance for change
The seven insurgent organizations who approached the government are mostly made up of former members or backers of Saddam Hussein’s government, military or security agencies, and were motivated in part by fear of undue Iranian influence in Iraq, lawmakers said.

If confirmed, their offer would mark an important potential shift and could stand as evidence of a growing divide between Iraq’s homegrown Sunni insurgency and the more brutal and ideological fighters of al-Qaida in Iraq, who are believed to be mainly non-Iraqi Islamic militants.

Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman linked the offer to al-Maliki’s national reconciliation plan, involving amnesty for opposition fighters except those who had killed Iraqis, were involved in terrorism, or committed crimes against humanity. Al-Maliki’s plan was thought to have denied amnesty to any insurgent who had killed American forces, although the wording was vague.

The Mujahedeen Shura Council, the terrorist umbrella organization that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, rejected the reconciliation plan.

Shiite lawmaker Hassan al-Suneid, who first reported the insurgent groups’ gesture, said al-Maliki was considering a possible meeting with their leaders or contacts through intermediaries. Al-Suneid is a member of the political bureau of al-Maliki’s Dawa Party.

The opening was confirmed by Othman, a close associate of President Jalal Talabani, who met with seven insurgent organizations about two months ago. It was not clear which groups Talabani met with.

Al-Suneid gave the names of six of the seven organizations that approached the government Monday: the 1920 Revolution Brigades, the Mohammed Army, Abtal al-Iraq (Heroes of Iraq), the 9th of April Group, al-Fatah Brigades and the Brigades of the General Command of the Armed Forces.

“I expect that those groups are the same ones that have made contacts with President Talabani, and now they are widening the range of their contacts. Now they are more serious after the announcement of the (reconciliation) plan,” al-Suneid told the AP.

Closer to troop withdrawal?
Othman was unable to name the groups or say whether they were the same ones Talabani had contacted. But he said they also sought talks with U.S. forces.

A meaningful truce with insurgents would make it much easier for the United States to withdraw troops from Iraq.

In other developments Tuesday:

• The Iraqi High Tribunal said Saddam and six co-defendants will go on trial Aug. 21 for the 1980s Anfal campaign in which an estimated 100,000 Kurds were killed in northern Iraq. Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said the Anfal case would proceed in tandem with Saddam’s current trial if needed.
• A professor at a technology university was killed in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad’s upscale Mansour neighborhood. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Studies said it will stage a sit-in in all universities on Wednesday to protest the frequent kidnappings and violence targeting its employees.
• Police found the bullet-riddled bodies of five men, including three who were handcuffed, in two areas of Baghdad.
• Gunmen tried to kill a tribal chief in the southeastern town of Amarah, seriously wounding Sheik Kadim al-Sebahawi and killing his 22-year-old son.

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