Iraqi govt in truce talks with Fallujah leaders

Iraqi army veterans from Fallujah, which has faced repeated air strikes by US forces against insurgents, headed to Baghdad for talks at the defence ministry, said Sheikh Abdul Hamid Jadu, a senior Fallujah figure involved in the negotiations.

"A military delegation from the Fallujah Brigade, headed by Abdullah al-Muhimdi, left for Baghdad this morning to start negotiating with the Iraqi defence minister and to put the final touches on an agreement between the sides," he told AFP.

"The results of this meeting will be announced later this evening."

The representatives of the Fallujah Brigade, a force dissolved last month by the Iraqi government after it failed to restore law and order in the city, could be joining a new police department as part of a possible deal.

The sides have been in intense discussions for weeks, with the threat of a US military operation to reclaim Fallujah looming in the background after an offensive in April that killed hundreds and devastated the city.

"I think they are very close to a deal," said Imad al-Shibib, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

He outlined the government's position toward the rebel hotspot, considered a hub for Jordanian Islamist Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man who is blamed for many of the car bombs and kidnappings plaguing the country.

"They have to give up all their weapons. Iraqi forces have to reenter the town, and all the terrorists and all the criminals have to put under the law. If they agree, the Iraqi government will find jobs (for army veterans and the unemployed) and reconstruct the town," Shibib said.

But Shibib expressed concern that the insurgency in the city had spiralled out of control to the point where its leaders would be unable to agree a truce.

"The government can't wait forever. We have a timetable for elections," he said.

Sheikh Khaled Hamoud, another tribal leader involved in the negotiations, also told AFP the sides were on the verge of a breakthrough. "I would say that we are close... but nothing has been finalised yet."

Sticking points remain the make-up of a security force for Fallujah and whether US troops will be permitted to enter the city -- a virtual necessity for the supervision of US-funded rebuilding projects.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Planning Minister Mehdi al-Hafez said yesterday that he will tell an international donor's conference that opens next week in Japan that Iraq wants a bigger say in the reconstruction of the country.

"Iraq wants to play a more active role" in the reconstruction drive of the war-wrecked country, Hafez told a joint news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Bassem Awadallah, ahead of travelling to Tokyo.

Hafez stressed that Iraq "has regained its sovereignty" following the transfer of power from the former US-led coalition forces in June.