Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Iraq. Contatti USA-resistenza?

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq9jun09,1,6443583.sto
ry?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true
Indirect U.S. Talks With Iraq Rebels Reported
Religious figures and politicians act as intermediaries, an official in
Baghdad says.
By Borzou Daragahi, Times Staff Writer
BAGHDAD - The U.S. Embassy has held indirect talks with members of violent
Iraqi insurgent groups, a U.S. official said Wednesday, edging back from a
long-standing position not to negotiate with terrorists or those who have
American or Iraqi blood on their hands.
"People stop shooting at us, and we - and I think the Iraqi government - are
ready to engage," said the U.S. official, who spoke to a group of Western
reporters on condition of anonymity. "People willing to condemn the use of
violence, particularly against the Iraqi people, we're willing to engage."
The U.S. is hoping to persuade Iraq's insurgents to lay down their weapons
and join the political process. But the insurgency is thought to be made up
of diverse groups of fighters, and it is unclear how broad a cross-section
has been involved in the contacts with the United States.
No details on the substance of the talks were made public, and it was not
known whether they had yielded any results.
Reports of meetings between figures associated with the insurgency and
American officials began emerging earlier this year.
U.S. military commanders in war-torn swaths of Iraq have long sent olive
branches and ultimatums to militants through local tribal and religious
leaders. A Pentagon official, who declined to be identified by name because
of the subject's sensitivity, described those interactions as informal and
non-substantive. "There has been some dialogue with these guys, but no
negotiations," the official said.
The talks confirmed by the U.S. official in Baghdad on Wednesday appeared to
be more formal contacts between insurgents and U.S. diplomats, mainly using
Sunni Arab political and religious figures as go-betweens. Abdul-Salam
Kubaysi, a leader of the Muslim Scholars Assn., an influential Sunni Arab
group, said he knew of at least three instances in which figures close to
the insurgency had approached the U.S. Embassy about the prospects of
cutting a deal, the latest within the last week.
More than 1,680 U.S. troops, and thousands of Iraqis, have been killed as
Iraq's insurgency has raged. For months, Iraq's interim leaders have been in
contact with representatives of insurgent groups, trying to bring them into
the political process. But the new participation of the Americans in such
talks might help convince the guerrillas that the negotiations could have
substantial results.
The involvement of diplomats in indirect negotiations with insurgents may
also be a signal that the U.S. is subtly shifting to a more pragmatic and
less rigid policy as casualties continue to mount more than two years after
the March 2003 invasion.
The discussions could also indicate a new willingness on the part of
guerrillas to lay down their weapons. Former Electricity Minister Ayham
Sameraei, a Sunni Arab, told Associated Press this week that the Islamic
Army in Iraq and the Mujahedin Army, two militant groups that have claimed
responsibility for attacks on Americans and kidnappings of foreigners, have
approached him about the prospect of making peace with the new Iraqi
government.
[...]

 Indirect U.S. Talks With Iraq Rebels Reported
#_ A "déjà vu" ??
"... L'8 dicembre arriva a Parigi la delegazione sudvietnamita, composta
da sessanta membri e guidata dal numero due del regime, Cao Ky....Le
trattative, interrotte da fasi di violenta ripresa del conflitto, porteranno
agli accordi di pace firmati il 27 gennaio 1973, che prevedono il ritiro
delle forze Usa, la cessazione delle ostilità e la riunificazione del paese.
Van Thieu prosegue la guerra, ma nel 1975 Saigon viene liberata. Comincia
un'altra storia."
Giano
