March 10, 2007	Saturday	Safar 20, 1428

BAGHDAD: America’s new top general in Iraq said that force alone cannot halt the violence and the US must talk to insurgent groups – an old idea that’s been tried before but has in the past faltered in the complex web of Iraqi politics.

This weekend’s regional security conference – which brings together the US and Iraq’s neighbours including Iran and Syria – may breathe new life into the outreach effort. But prospects are uncertain, and success could be long in coming.

At his first news conference since taking command last month, Gen. David Petraeus stressed on Thursday that military force is necessary to improve security, but “is not sufficient” to end the conflict.

He said political talks must eventually include some militant groups now opposing the US-backed government and that those negotiations “will determine in the long run the success of this effort”.

That’s a view long held by senior US military officers in Iraq.

Petraeus’ predecessor, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., said the same thing publicly, and US officials have been working for years to encourage dialogue with Iraqi groups, including major Sunni insurgent groups, except Al Qaeda.

So far, however, the outreach programme has failed to make significant headway in persuading large numbers of Sunni insurgents to lay down their arms – in part because of objections from Shia groups over their demands, including a blanket amnesty and a timetable for the departure of US forces.

Last year, 11 Sunni insurgent groups offered an immediate halt to all attacks, including those on American troops, if the US agreed to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq in two years, insurgent and government officials told The Associated Press in June.

The White House opposes such a timetable. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has described a timetable as unrealistic because it’s unclear when Iraqi forces will be strong enough to ensure security on their own.

With outreach stalled, recent statements from insurgent groups or supporters believed most amenable to a settlement have demanded that the current Shia-led government be replaced – a condition the majority Shia leadership is unlikely to accept.

Sunni-Shia tension has yet to ease after months of savage bloodletting, which has only now begun to abate in Baghdad. Mainstream Sunni politicians complain the Shias have marginalised their role in the “national unity” government.

All that complicates any effort to bring armed groups into a political dialogue.—AP