US diplomats and intelligence officers are conducting secret talks with Iraq's Sunni insurgents on ways to end fighting there, Timemagazine has reported.
The Bush administration has said it would not negotiate with Iraqi fighters and there is no authorised dialogue, but the United States is having "back-channel" communications with certain insurgents, unidentified Washington and Iraqi sources told the magazine.
Republican Senator Mr Chuck Hagel of Nebraska
The magazine cited a secret meeting between two members of the US military and an Iraqi negotiator, a middle-aged former member of Saddam Hussein's regime and the senior representative of what he called the nationalist insurgency.
A US officer tried to get names of other insurgent leaders while the Iraqi complained the new Shia-dominated government was being controlled by Iran, according to an account of the meeting provided by the Iraqi negotiator.
"We are ready to work with you," the Iraqi negotiator said, according to Time.
Iraqi insurgent leaders not aligned with al-Qaeda ally Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi told the magazine several nationalist groups composed of what the Pentagon calls "former regime elements" have become open to negotiating.
The insurgents said their aim was to establish a political identity that can represent disenfranchised Sunnis.
The White House had no immediate comment on the report.
When asked about the contacts, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a member of the Senate foreign relations and intelligence committees, said it was important to "reach out" in Iraq.
"We've got a very complicated and dangerous situation over there and you are going to have to reach out, you are going to have to develop some relationships and networks," he said.