Irak: Verhandlungen mit Rebellen geplant

--- Die irakische Interimsregieriung will mit den Aufständischen verhandeln, berichtet die New York Times: The Iraqi foreign minister said Thursday that the interim Iraqi government planned to meet soon in Jordan with rebel leaders to try to persuade them to take part in politics here. It was the first time the government had agreed to an official meeting with leaders of the insurgency. The minister, Hoshyar Zebari, did not give a date for the meeting or specify who would be invited. He said Iraqi officials had agreed to the meeting after being asked by various diplomats at a conference this week in Egypt to open discussions with the resistance. "The aim is really to reach out to as many people as possible both inside and outside" of Iraq, Mr. Zebari said at a news conference. The government welcomes "the broader participation of Iraqis, even those who are oppositionists, in this process" of politics, he said, "if they renounce violence and terror." The rebel leaders to be invited will be "some people who are of political and tribal backgrounds," he said, declining to elaborate. American and Iraqi officials say much of the insurgency is being financed by wealthy loyalists to Saddam Hussein who fled to bordering countries before the American-led invasion in March 2003. Many are believed to be helping to organize the insurgency from Syria and Jordan, and funneling millions of dollars to the ground troops of the rebellion.

Ob da wohl auch al-Sarkawi eingeladen wird? Der hat sich inzwischen angeblich behaglich in Mossul eingerichtet: American military officials said Thursday that three more bodies had been discovered in Mosul, a city of two million 225 miles north of Baghdad that has emerged as one of the biggest problems for the Americans. One was a Kurdish militiaman and another appeared to be an Iraqi soldier, said Lt. Col. Erik Kurilla, commander of the First Battalion of the 24th Infantry. Both had been shot. The identity of the third has not been determined. Hundreds of insurgents stormed and looted a half-dozen police stations in Mosul on Nov. 11, spurring 3,200 of the city's 4,000 police officers to quit. Since then, the city has remained unstable, with at least three dozen Iraqi bodies, mostly security officers, turning up in various parts of the city, some decapitated or killed with shots to the head.

Update: In Mossul hat die US-Armee inzwischen bereits 65 abgeschlachtete Leichen irakischer Polizisten oder Nationalgardisten gefunden, während sich die Aufständischen schön versteckt halten.