BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said American officials "are actively pursuing negotiations with Sunni factions" after insurgent leaders and Sunni Arab politicians said divisions have widened between Al Qaeda in Iraq and insurgent groups and led to combat in some areas of the country.

    The Sunni Arab insurgent leaders said they disagreed with the leadership of Al Qaeda in Iraq over tactics, including attacks on civilians, as well as over command of the movement.

    "Iraqis are uniting against Al Qaeda," Khalilzad said Monday. "Coalition commanders have been able to engage some insurgents to explore ways to collaborate in fighting the terrorists."

    Insurgent leaders from two of the prominent groups fighting U.S. troops said the differences between their forces and Al Qaeda were serious. They have led to skirmishes in Al Anbar province, in western Iraq, and have stopped short of combat in Diyala, east of Baghdad, they said in interviews with the Los Angeles Times.

    The General Command of the Iraqi Armed Forces, a small Baath Party insurgent faction, told the Los Angeles Times it had split with Al Qaeda in Iraq in September, after the assassination of two of its members in Al Anbar.

    "Al Qaeda killed two of our best members, the Gen. Mohammed and Gen. Saab, in Ramadi, so we took revenge and now we fight Al Qaeda," said the group's spokesman, who called himself Abu Marwan.

    In Diyala, the 1920 Revolution Brigade, a coalition of Islamist militants and former Baath Party military officers, is on the verge of cutting ties with Al Qaeda.

    "In the past, we agreed in terms of the goal of resisting the occupation and expelling the occupation. We have some disagreements with Qaeda, especially about targeting civilians, places of worship, state civilian institutions and services," said a fighter with the brigade who identified himself with a nom de guerre, Haj Mahmoud abu Bakr.

    The Iraqi government has proposed a trial cease-fire period to the 1920 Revolution Brigade, the Islamic Army in Iraq and other factions in western Baghdad. In return, the government would launch a major reconstruction drive in battle-scarred Sunni areas, a senior member of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party said.

    A rupture between Al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgents could prove a significant break for the Iraqi government and the Americans. But Sunni politicians describe the fighting against Al Qaeda in Iraq as localized and emphasize that in some areas the various movements exist in harmony.

    (Agencies)