Iraq, insurgent negotiations deadlocked

Iraq's government has engaged in secret negotiations seeking to get some Sunni Arab insurgent groups to give up their fight, but the talks are deadlocked over the lack of a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, a senior official said Thursday.

Saad Yousif al-Muttalibi of the Ministry of National Dialogue and Reconciliation said talks have been taking place inside and outside Iraq over the past three months and involved five or six insurgent groups.

He did not identify the groups, saying only that they excluded al-Qaida in Iraq and Saddam Hussein loyalists. But he said senior members of Saddam's outlawed Baath party took part. He added further talks were planned but would give no details.

Speaking to The Associated Press, al-Muttalibi described the talks as "very delicate" and said they were being conducted through intermediaries. He said negotiations were initiated at the request of the insurgents, who insisted on being kept anonymous as a condition for talking.

Al-Muttalibi said the two sides also have differences over issues such as federalism and Iraq's identity as outlined in the constitution adopted in a nationwide referendum in 2005.

Sunni Arabs, a minority that dominated until Saddam's 2003 ouster, maintain the document does not clearly state Iraq's Arab identity and enshrines a federalist system they fear is a prelude to the country's break-up. A parliamentary mechanism to address these reservations was agreed upon in 2005, but there have been no substantive political talks so far.

Al-Muttalibi said the insurgent groups insist they will lay down their arms and join the political process only if a timetable is announced for the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces. "This is the biggest stumbling block to an agreement," he said.

The Bush administration and Iraq's Shiite-dominated government routinely reject setting a pullout timetable. The Americans say that would encourage insurgents to hold out, while Iraqi leaders say no pullout should be announced until the country's fledgling army and police forces are capable of ensuring security.

Al-Muttalibi's comments came a day after he expressed optimism in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government was making progress in talks with insurgent groups, predicting some factions might be close to laying down their arms.

"One of the aims is to join with them in the fight against al-Qaida (in Iraq)," he told the BBC.

A top aide of al-Maliki confirmed talks were under way, but refused to be drawn out on details. The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said U.S. officials had been involved in some of the negotiations.

Reports have periodically surfaced that Iraqi officials and U.S. authorities were talking with representatives of Sunni insurgent groups, but details always have been sketchy. Groups mentioned as partners in such talks often deny their participation.

Al-Maliki's government has come under mounting U.S. pressure to work harder for national reconciliation, but its critics claim its efforts may lack serious commitment.

Sunni Arabs, meanwhile, remain embittered by their loss of power and are reluctant to accept political dominance by Shiites, who account for about 65 percent of Iraq's population. The Sunni-dominated insurgency also is fragmented, with dozens of groups operating independently.

News of the talks comes as the U.S. also is pushing for reconciliation by calming Iraq's Shiite militants.

In a bid to bolster that effort, the U.S. military on Wednesday freed a close aide of Muqtada al-Sadr, an anti-American Shiite cleric whose militia fought with American troops in 2004. It said Ahmed al-Shibani "could play a potentially important role in helping to moderate extremism and foster reconciliation in Iraq."

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Associated Press correspondent Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.