Sunni contacts to open channels with gunmen in Iraq

At the time when the Iraqi ministry of the interior said that "operation lightening" was able to reduce the number of booby trapped car incidents in Baghdad from 12 explosions to 2 explosions daily, the former national security advisor in Iraq Muwafaq al-Rubei called for using the Sunni channels to open contacts with the gunmen.

Al-Rubei said following talks with the Shiite clergy Ayatullah Ali al-Seistani in al-Najaf city that contacting the gunmen requires the government's opening of contact channels via the Sunni leaders who are in touch with those gunmen.

Al-Rubei added that these contacts have so far been limited to groups which he said practice "national resistance." The expression used in Iraq when talking about gunmen who only target the alliance forces.

However, the Iraqi minister of the interior Bayan Soulagh refused any contact with the gunmen, saying "we will open the channels of contacts with those who were not involved in killing and terrorism," adding "we are not ready to open channels with those who stole the smile from the faces of our children and killed our children."