Iraq ex-PM says US held talks with banned Baathists

[Barrett808]

Source: AFP

Iraq ex-PM says US held talks with banned Baathists
by Taieb Mahjoub

DUBAI (AFP) - Former Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi said in comments aired Thursday that he had organized meetings between senior US officials and representatives of the banned Baath party of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

Allawi said he himself had taken part in some of the meetings, which involved representatives of Saddam's fugitive number two Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, who has a 10-million-dollar US bounty on his head.

"The dialogue took place at the request of the United States," the former premier said in the comments broadcast by Dubai-based satellite channel Al-Arabiya, which promised to broadcast the full interview on Friday.

"It took place in an Arab country and partly in Iraq in my presence," Allawi said.

"The meetings were aimed at reaching a mutual understanding between the Baathists and the US government which was represented at a senior level."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070906/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticsusbaath