Iraq urges Sunni "nationalist" rebels to talk

[ckramer]

Iraq's security minister on Wednesday urged "nationalist" Sunni Muslim insurgents to negotiate a truce that could hasten a U.S. troop withdrawal.

"There are nationalists within the insurgency who are against the occupation. We are urging them to show their faces and come to the table," National Security Minister Abdul Karim al-Enzi said on the sidelines of an Iraq conference in Brussels.

"Up to now we have only talked with them through intermediaries," he told Reuters.

"We are not talking about the foreigners, Saddamists and religious radicals who think they have a divine right to label others heretics and sanction all sorts of killing. They are not interested in anything but violence," said Enzi.

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[ckramer]

1. Are Saddamists nationalists?

I tend to think so.

[Igel]

3. He might be using the neologism

to say that there are nationalists and there are Saddam-supporters. One could be rabidly in favor of Saddam, which doesn't necessarily mean nationalist, but doesn't preclude it. Think in terms of sets, at least in this case.

[bemildred]

2. "Trust me". nt