US and Iraqi officials said today they were talking to tribal leaders, clerics and some groups linked to the Sunni Arab insurgency as part of attempts to draw more parties into Iraq's political process.
The officials said the talks, which have been going on for months, were part of broader efforts to build contacts with all quarters of Iraqi society, and described them as nothing new.
They dismissed suggestions that the talks were in any way a form of negotiation with insurgents.
They were responding in part to an article in London's Sunday Timesnewspaper saying that US officials were in talks with Iraqi rebels, who have been waging a two-year campaign against US forces and the US-backed Iraqi government.
"We've always talked to people, and many of those people have some sort of link to insurgents," said a US official in Baghdad, declining to be named.
"It's hard to gauge how much influence anyone has with insurgents, or to determine which insurgent group they're associated with," he added, indicating that while the talks were happening, it was not clear where they were headed.
"We are not negotiating with insurgents," he said. "There has been no change in US policy."
A senior Iraqi official who used to work in the Interior Ministry said the talks had involved former Baathists, Saddam Hussein loyalists and others who consider themselves nationalist fighters against a US occupation.
But he said militants professing to represent other groups, such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda-linked organisation, or the Army of Ansar al-Sunna, which has carried out several deadly attacks against Americans and Iraqis, were not involved.
"The talks are always going on, and some people like to try to say that they are making inroads, but quite frankly I don't think they are going to achieve anything," he said.
"Some people are exaggerating their ability to make contact with the insurgency in an effort to impress the Americans, but I don't think they're really going to have much impact."