The number two US military commander in Iraq on Friday denied that US forces were arming insurgents willing to fight forces of the Al-Qaeda network, but said the military was "reaching out."
"I want to make one thing very clear: we are not arming these groups," Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno told reporters via teleconference from Baghdad.
However, Odierno did admit providing 10 assault rifles to a security detail for one mayor he said was being "threatened."
"The best I can tell, we armed 10 security detachment personnel for a mayor in one town because he was being threatened. And so we did give him 10 AK-47s."
The AK automatic rifles are not used by US forces, but are widely available in Iraq.
"Beyond that, we have not given weapons to any insurgent groups. They have plenty of weapons," Odierno said. "I want those weapons to be used against Al-Qaeda and not against coalition forces or Iraqi security forces."
The insurgent groups "are reaching out to us, and we are reaching back. They want to fight Al-Qaeda, and we think they can help us. And there's a few things that they have to do."
According to Odierno, the US commanders wants to connect those groups to the Iraqi government within the broader framework of reconciliation. "And that's when we'll have successful reconciliation," he said.
In late May Odierno said there were informal contacts on the ground between US military officers and insurgent groups willing to fight Al-Qaeda. Odierno said that he would like to enhance these informal contacts to ease national reconciliation among Iraqis.
