Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki unveiled to MPs Sunday a long-awaited national reconciliation plan aimed at quelling insurgent attacks and mounting sectarian violence.
But on the day he spoke an al Qaeda-led insurgent coalition announced it had executed four Russian hostages while a wave of killings and bombings claimed the lives of at least 21 Iraqis.
Under the reconciliation plan, amnesty would be granted only to suspected insurgents in US or Iraqi government custody, who had committed no crimes, Maliki said.
Those with "bloodied hands" would be prosecuted and punished, he added. US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad expressed strong support for the plan and called on insurgents to seize the opportunity to disarm and rejoin the political mainstream. "I urge all insurgents to lay down their arms and join the political and the democratic process in new Iraq," he told reporters. Reacting to the plan, several US senators said they would oppose any amnesty to those who killed US soldiers.
"The idea that they should even consider talking about amnesty for people who have killed people who liberated their country, is unconscionable," Senator Carl Levin, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee said on Fox television.
Comments
Comments are closed.