JORDAN: Saleh al-Mutlaq, leadser of the Iraqi National Dialogue group, says Iraqi insurgent groups should develop political programme

Saleh al-Mutlaq, the leader of the Iraqi National Dialogue group, which is a main Sunni group in Iraq, says nationalist resistance and insurgent groups in Iraq should close ranks and develop a political programme. Al-Mutlaq also says that unless the occupation forces initiate dialogue with the insurgents, the political process is destined to fail. Insurgent groups in Iraq must agree on a vision of a future Iraq in the event that a U.S. plan to stem violence fails and leads to an abrupt U.S. troop withdrawal from the country, said prominent Iraqi Sunni politician Saleh al-Mutlaq on Monday (April 16). Saleh al-Mutlaq, whose National Dialogue group is a leading Sunni party represented in parliament, said that Iraqi insurgents, who have emerged stronger from years of confronting the U.S. military, should now seek to reap political rewards for their ability to bloody the powerful U.S. army. "I hope that insurgent groups will unify their ranks and strategies, and develop a political programme through which they can negotiate with the occupation forces. And I hope that the occupation forces initiate a dialogue with the insurgents immediately because the political process will not succeed as long as the resistance continues to carry arms against the occupation," he said. Iraqi sources close to groups that form the backbone of the Sunni-based insurgency say initial discussions have already begun on a broad political programme for the resistance. This would pre-empt any bloody power struggle emerging amongst the Iraqi insurgent groups. These groups are feeling encouraged by mounting U.S. domestic pressure on President Bush to set a timetable for a troop pullout from Iraq. The U.S. administration says troops can only leave when Iraq has stabilised, otherwise U.S. national security will be in jeopardy. Al-Mutlaq also said that Washington should engage in serious discussions with mainstream insurgent groups if it really seeks a stable post-war order. "What is needed from the American administration is to immediately start a dialogue with the insurgents, and what is needed from the insurgents is to avoid being dragged into in-fighting among its factions, because this will weaken the social structure and the country's national power, and this will only benefit other parties not Iraqi nationalists," he said. U.S. and Iraqi officials have repeatedly said they are in contact with representatives of some Sunni insurgent groups, but mainstream Iraqi insurgents say this contention is a smokescreen for a campaign of sowing divisions within insurgent ranks. They say the American military is blocking communication channels with Sunni tribes seen as collaborators within their community. Al-Mutlaq says a political programme for a "liberated Iraq" would help fill any "void" if a plan by U.S. President George W. Bush to boost troops in Iraq fails and triggers an abrupt withdrawal. "There is an urgency for us and the national resistance to develop a political programme to fill the void which will be present following the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. If the void remains unfilled by a national power, a catastrophe will take place in the country," said al-Mutlaq.

ITN Source | April 18, 2007

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