December 8, 2005

Iraqi rebels will not lay down arms or engage in serious talks with the government unless the U.S. officially lays down a schedule for the withdrawal of its troops from the country, the spokesman for the powerful Association of Muslim scholars said.

Muthana Harith al-Dhari said the U.S. "must publicly declare its intention to withdraw from Iraq in accordance with a specified timetable."

Only then the association, which groups senior Sunni clerics in Iraq, "will call on all Iraqis including the resistance to join in the political process."

However, Dhari said the commission was against "a surprise withdrawal. Its demand is a schedule for such a withdrawal."

He said reconciliation between disparate Iraqi groups would be made possible only if the U.S. agreed for such a timetable.

Asked whether armed groups led by foreign fighters would stop their attacks in case there was a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, Dhari said:

"These groups are a minority and only carry out only 5-10% of all operations in Iraq. I think even these groups would accept to stop attacks," Dhari said.

Dhari charged the government of reneging on promises it made in last month’s reconciliation conference in Cairo.

He said since the Cairo conference the government, aided by U.S. troops, has mounted large-scale operations against Sunni-dominated areas.

As a result, he said, the association would boycott any further talks on reconciliation.

The association is Muslim Sunnis most powerful body. However, Dhari said "if they (government and U.S. troops) are willing to enter into a dialogue, they will need to talk directly with the resistance."

Dhari said the association was aware of meddling in Iraqi affairs by Iran particularly in the south.

However, he dismissed U.S. and Iraqi government accusations that Syria was facilitating entry of foreign fighters into Iraqi territories.

"Syria is doing its best to guard the borders," he said, adding that the presence of foreign fighters in Iraq could be blamed on the U.S. administration’s decision to dissolve the former army.