Iraq’s interim government moved on Saturday to defuse the country’s rampant and bloody anti-American insurgency by signing a long-awaited amnesty law.
The move will pardon Iraqis who have committed minor crimes against US or Iraqi government officials, but it will not include those who have killed US soldiers, Iraqis or any hostages.
The move comes as violence continued to grip the holy city of Najaf and other southern Iraqi cities, with US troops and Iraqi soldiers embroiled in fierce battles with the militant army of the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The bloodshed is deeply threatening to the government of interim Prime Minister Ayed Allawi, who is also a Shia, seen by many Iraqis as owing his position to the Americans.
On Saturday night insurgants fired ten mortar bombs and rockets in central Baghdad. Some landed near the Green Zone compound housing the interim Iraqi government and the US embassy, although there were no immediate reports of casualties.
The wide-ranging amnesty is seen as a key plank in trying to end the insurgency which has shown no sign of easing since the handover of sovereignty to Allawi’s government in June.
In another sign that Allawi is keen to offer an olive branch to the insurgents, he said that many of the fighters in Najaf were not true supporters of al-Sadr. He labelled them ‘common criminals’ and said al-Sadr was still welcome to take part in national elections scheduled for January. Allawi also strongly hinted that no attempt would be made to arrest al-Sadr, who is wanted for murdering a rival cleric. Iraqi officials say they do not know the whereabouts of al-Sadr, but a defence ministry source said on Saturday night that he was thought to be hiding in Baghdad.
Fighting was continuing in Najaf, albeit at a lower intensity than in the previous two days, when US troops claimed to have killed more than 300 members of al-Sadr’s militia. Skirmishes involving al-Sadr loyalists also persisted in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, where fighting has killed at least 35 people and wounded 180. There was also further violence in the southern cities of Amara and Basra. But nearby Nasiriya was reported to be quiet as a ceasefire took hold.
Many observers are hoping that the amnesty will prove more important than any victory on the battlefield in defusing the continuing fighting. The plan caused a scandal in the US when it was first revealed several weeks ago as American officials feared it would grant amnesty to those who had killed US soldiers. But pressure from Washington removed that possibility, and Allawi was clear that all those with blood on their hands would face justice.
‘This amnesty is not for people … who have killed. Those people will be brought to justice,’ Allawi said. It will forgive those who committed minor crimes between 1 May, 2003, just after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, and Saturday, he said. Those eligible will have to turn themselves in over the next 30 days.
The fresh outbreak of violence among Iraq’s Shias is the worst outbreak of fighting since the fall of Baghdad last year. Containing it and ending the parallel Sunni insurgency around the capital is now seen as the vital test for Allawi’s government.
However, observers doubt whether a much-vaunted, and delayed, conference to elect an interim national assembly will be able to go ahead as planned. In a move that raised questions about the interim government’s commitment to free speech, Allawi announced a one-month ban on the operations of Arab satellite television channel al-Jazeera in Iraq, accusing it of inciting violence and encouraging the insurgency.
The move was swiftly condemned by Arab journalists. Al-Jazeera has angered many Iraqi government figures for its broadcasting of messages from insurgent groups and other organisations that have taken hostages.
The Turkish employers of a driver taken hostage in Iraq have agreed to stop operating in the country after his captors threatened to behead him unless his company withdrew from Iraq within 48 hours. Last week another Turkish hostage was shot dead by his captors. – Guardian Unlimited Â