LONDON - Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi used an interview Wednesday to call for talks with insurgents in the country -- with the exception of Al-Qaeda.
"I do believe in fact that there is no way but to talk to everybody except Al-Qaeda because they are also not very much willing in fact to talk to anybody," he told BBC radio.
"Except those, in fact I think all should be invited, should be called to sit down around the table to discuss their fears, their reservations."
Hashemi, a Sunni, added that the insurgents were just part of the Iraqi communities.
"We believe that all Iraqis, whether they are participating in the political process or outside the political process, everybody in fact principally agrees that there is no way in front of the Iraqis but democracy, but political process," he said.
Many Iraqis were currently "annoyed" because coalition forces in their country were "damaging the dignity of the Iraqis, damaging the sovereignty of the Iraqis".
"But when these forces pull out, withdraw from the Iraqis, definitely they will be a genuine partner in the political process," he added.
Despite this view, Hashemi stressed that he believed coalition forces should stay in Iraq "until further notice".
Hashemi was also asked about Operation Fardh al-Qanoon (Imposing Law), the Iraqi-US effort to calm the violence in Baghdad.
He said there had been a "significant improvement" in security but that coalition forces had used sometimes used "excessive force" and that there had been "malpractices and violations of human rights" among sectarian fighters.
Asked about the infiltration of security forces by militiamen, he described it as "a matter of fact".
"What we need in fact (is) to purge the current national armed forces from the militias and to orient these forces into patriotic as well as professional basis," he said.
He suggested that a "mediator" could be brought in to help remove militia from the forces.
"I do believe that British as well as Americans could play a significant role in this action," he added.
Hashemi also expressed discomfort that sectarianism was reflected in the make-up of Iraq's government.
"We have to break up the polarisation (along sectarian lines)... one of the political recipes might be that Iraq is going to be convinced that, to break up this polarisation, we have to go for first of all election system reform and second to go for early elections," he said.
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