Interim Iraqi prime minister arrived in Jordan on Tuesday for meetings with tribal leaders and other influential Iraqis in an attempt to encourage Sunni Muslims to participate in the Jan. 30 elections, but he ruled out contacts with "insurgent" leaders and former members of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Prime Minister Ayad Allawi before leaving Baghdad, said his government would pursue contacts with "tribal figures" and other influential Iraqis to encourage broad participation in the elections, which some Sunni clerics have threatened to boycott.
But Allawi described reports that he would meet with former Baath party figures as "an invention by the media."
On Tuesday, Allawi told the Iraqi National Council, a government advisory and oversight group, that his government wanted contacts with "important tribes," many of which maintained links to Saddam's regime.
