The Hindu : International : "Back channel process under way in Iraq"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 22, 2005

International

International

"Back channel process under way in Iraq"

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, FEB. 21. Even as the Bush administration says for the record that it will not negotiate with the militants in Iraq, a back channel process is under way in Baghdad, according to the Time magazine which cited unnamed Pentagon and other sources. "We are ready to work with you," the magazine quotes the Iraqi negotiator as saying.

The "militant" negotiator has told the Time that two such meetings have taken place thus far and while Washington has not said anything for the record, sources have told the magazine that for the first time, the U.S. is in "direct contact" with the Sunni militants, including members of the former Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein. And the magazine further quotes Pentagon officials as clarifying that the "secret contacts" with militant leaders are being conducted by American diplomats and intelligence officers. "There's a lot bubbling under the surface today," a Western observer has been quoted as saying.

Calm environment

What comes through in this back channel negotiation is the realisation on the part of the Bush administration that the increasing militancy in Iraq cannot be defeated militarily; and politically, the realisation that in the aftermath of the recent elections, a calm environment is absolutely necessary to take the process forward. "The Iraqis are the solution to the insurgency and they are the solution to our departure," a senior military official has told Time magazine.

In reporting the back channel process, it is also being pointed out are the kind of difficulties ahead with the stress being on the fact that it was too early to come away with a sense of optimism. If one of the problems in the process is the stance of hardline fighters like Al-Zarqawi, a lot also depends on the attitude of the new Iraqi Government which may not be interested in a deal with the Sunni militants.

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