BAGHDAD, 28 November 2005 — Iraq said yesterday it has delayed a major anti-insurgent offensive ahead of December elections, as President Jalal Talabani confirmed he had been contacted by rebels wanting to join the political process.
The announcement came as the leader of the country’s most powerful political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), criticized US forces for preventing Iraqi troops tackling the insurgency head-on amid allegations of a return to Saddam-era abuses. Interior Minister Bayan Baker Solagh, also a SCIRI member, announced the suspension of the large-scale offensive against “hotbeds of terrorism” following an appeal by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
“President Talabani got in touch with me after receiving a call from Moussa, and asked me to call off this operation to ensure the success of the national reconciliation conference” in February, Solagh told reporters.
Meanwhile, Talabani confirmed he had received calls from people claiming to be linked to the insurgency, saying they were ready to engage in political talks.
“We salute all those who want to engage in dialogue,” he said.
Talabani last week appealed to rebels to renounce violence and join the political process following the Cairo talks.
Talabani said he was prepared to talk to all insurgents, except from Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Ansar Al-Islam, two of the most radical groups responsible for some of the more bloody attacks against civilians in Iraq.
Despite Talabani’s conciliatory words, SCIRI leader Abdul Aziz Hakim lamented what he said were US “obstacles” to Iraqi forces dealing with rebels.
US forces are sometimes “an obstacle preventing Iraqi forces from taking the right course,” he told AFP. “US mistakes have cost us dearly in the past and still cost us dearly today.” In an interview published yesterday in the Washington Post newspaper, Hakim also urged the United States to allow Iraqi forces to take a more aggressive role against insurgents.
The accusations came as former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said in another interview that human rights abuses in Iraq were now as bad, or worse, than when Saddam Hussein was in power.
His comments followed recent revelations that some 170 detainees, mostly Sunnis, were illegally held, tortured and starved at a clandestine center run by the Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry in Baghdad.
In an interview with The Observer newspaper in London, Allawi, a secular Shiite, pointed an accusing finger at the Interior Ministry, and alleged that “a lot of Iraqis” are being tortured or killed during interrogation.
