Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday offered an olive branch to insurgents in Iraq and said lawmakers should set a timeline for Iraqi troops to take control of security throughout the country.
There was no mention of any timetable for the withdrawal of US-led forces in Iraq.
The national reconciliation plan would also include an amnesty for insurgents and opposition figures who have not been involved in terrorist activities. Al-Maliki declared however, that insurgent killers would not escape justice.
"The launch of this national reconciliation initiative should not be read as a reward for the killers and criminals or acceptance of their actions. No, one thousand times no. There can be no agreement with them unless they face the justice," he said.
The new Iraqi leader, in power just more than a month, said he was realistic about the difficult road that lay ahead.
"We realize that there is a legion of those who have tread the path of evil [who] ... will continue with their criminal acts," he said.
But he held out an offer of peace to those who would renounce violence, while threatening retribution and punishment to those who would not.
"To those who want to rebuild our country, we present an olive branch ... And to those who insist on killing and terrorism, we present a fist with the power of law to protect our country and people," he told lawmakers, who applauded his speech.
In the south of Iraq, the first of Japan's force of 600 soldiers being withdrawn from the country started crossing the border into Kuwait, according to reporters and the Japanese Defense Agency
The Japanese withdrawal of its total force of soldiers conducting a humanitarian and reconstruction mission began with the departure of about 15 vehicles transporting trucks, bulldozers and equipment from the provincial capital of Samawah early yesterday morning for the 350km journey south to Kuwait.
As the Japanese ended their mission in Iraq, al-Maliki's reconciliation plan said there should be a timeline established for Iraqi forces to take over all security duties in the country. It, however, included no specifics on the withdrawal of US and British forces, a Shiite lawmaker said.
Al-Maliki said the general amnesty would exclude "those who committed crimes against the Iraqi people."
The most controversial section of the amnesty plan was left ambiguous. Initially it was said to have excluded only those who had killed Iraqi people. But in parliament yesterday, al-Maliki spoke of refusing amnesty to those who had committed terrorist acts, believed to include attacks on US military personnel as well.
The plan also seeks compensation for former detainees "and those who were killed by Iraqi and American forces" and said their time spent in prison would be considered as part of their mandatory military service.
An early draft of the plan also called for a general pardon for thousands of prisoners who are determined not to have committed "crimes and clear terrorist actions."
Hundreds of prisoners have been pardoned and released in recent months in what is seen as a bid by the Shiite-dominated government to appease Sunni anger over allegations of random detentions and maltreatment.
The proposal would also set rules of engagement for military offensives and special conditions that might argue against an attack.
That was seen as a bid to alleviate Sunni anger over the alleged killing of innocent civilians and bystanders by US and Iraqi forces.
The reconciliation plan would also call for a reconsideration of policies against supporters of former president Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party.
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