Talabani Hopeful After Meeting Insurgents

Is the campaign of terrorism in Iraq nearing its end?


BAGHDAD, Iraq - President Jalal Talabani has met with insurgent representatives and is optimistic they may agree to disarm, his office said Sunday — the first time a senior Iraqi official has acknowledged talks with the armed groups.

Bombs and drive-by shootings Sunday killed nine people in Iraq, and the bodies of seven Iraqi men who apparently were kidnapped and tortured were found in three areas of the capital.

The deadliest attack Sunday involved a roadside bomb that exploded on a highway south of Baghdad, killing three security contractors and wounding two. Police said the victims were all British. The British Embassy in Baghdad and the Foreign Office in London confirmed the attack but did not yet know the victims' nationalities, identities or employer.

In a statement, Talabani's office quoted him as saying: "I think we may reach an agreement with seven armed groups that visited me and I met with them."

It did not say when the meeting happened. Talabani spokesman Kamran Qaradaghi refused to identify the groups, although they were presumed to be Sunni Arab insurgents.