Talabani 'ready for talks' with opposition

IRAQ'S president indicated yesterday that he was ready for talks with anti-government opposition figures and members of Saddam Hussein's outlawed Ba'ath Party.

He also called on the Sunni-led insurgency to lay down its arms and join the political process.

But President Jalal Talabani, in Cairo for the Arab League-sponsored conference, insisted the Iraqi government would not meet Ba'ath Party members who are participating in the Sunni-led insurgency and attacking Iraqi and US-led forces in the country.