IRAQ: Secret talks between Iraqi insurgents and American officials, Part 2

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The 1920 Revolution Brigades issued a statement on Thursday in response to a Babylon and Beyond blog item last month about two meetings in Istanbul, Turkey, last spring between U.S. officials and a coalition of Sunni insurgent groups in Istanbul. In the group’s statement Thursday, the 1920 Revolution Brigades said that it had not participated in the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance’s talks with the Americans and described the previous blog post as ‘mistaken.’ Babylon and Beyond said that the 1920 Revolution Brigades belongs to the umbrella group of Sunni insurgents, the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance, that held the meetings with the Americans this spring.
In its statement Thursday, the 1920 Revolution Brigades said that now was not the time for negotiations with the U.S. government or military. It referred to a previous statement it had issued on its stance regarding the Istanbul talks with the Americans: ‘This stage for the conflict between us and the enemy does not require to negotiate with him but requires to increase the momentum of the strikes to force him to comply to our terms and withdraw from our land.’

-- Ned Parker in Los Angeles