Five Armed Factions Engage in Negotiates with the Iraqi Government

Government sources confirmed that five Iraqi armed factions voiced their willingness to lay down their weapons in exchange for “guarantees for participation” in the political process and the upcoming general elections.

The director of international relations at the Iraqi ministry for national dialogue told the newspaper that “the government expressed readiness to talk to five well-known Iraqi armed factions after they pledged to lay down their weapons and participate peacefully in the political process according to what they achieve in elections”.
On the other hand, the official, Saad al-Muttalibi, said the government would not be bound by the results of any negotiations between the U.S. and Iraqi factions because the government was not notified of such talks. Al-Muttalibi is clearly referring to earlier meetings in Turkey between U.S. officials and representatives of the “Political Council for Iraqi Resistance”, an umbrella for six Sunni insurgent groups.

The newspaper adds that another official (Mohammed al-Uraibi, state minister for tribes affairs) is leading a delegation to speak with Sunni Arab tribal leaders, who are currently in Jordan and Syria, and persuade them to return to Iraq.