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Iraqi Minister Drawing Up Amnesty Plan
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's new government is considering offering amnesty to Iraqi insurgents who fought the U.S.-led occupation, perhaps even pardoning those who killed Americans. A spokesman for Allawi said fighting with U.S. troops was "justified" as resistance to occupation. "If he (a guerrilla) was in opposition against the Americans, that will be justified because it was an occupation force," spokesman Georges Sada said of the rebels. "We will give them freedom."
And if we get our hands on him, perhaps we'll give him something else.
Choking the brutal 14-month insurgency is the No. 1 priority of Allawi's government, and the prime minister is expected to make a number of security-related policy announcements in coming days. Besides the amnesty plan, those include a new emergency law that sets curfews in Iraq's trouble spots and resurrects of Iraq's death penalty, Sada said.

The amnesty plan is still in the works, and a full pardon for insurgents who killed Americans is not a certainty, Sada said. The main thrust is to "start everything from new" by giving a second chance to rebel fighters who hand in their weapons and swear off the insurgency. "There is still heavy discussion about this," said Sada, interviewed in the prime minister's office. He said the U.S. Embassy has encouraged Allawi to try creative solutions to end the insurgency as long as they don't infringe on human rights.

There appears to be little controversy about pardoning rebels who were not actual killers of U.S. or Iraqi security forces. Sada said it was "no problem" to amnesty rebel financiers and those storing heavy weapons in their homes. The offer appears to be intended to drive a wedge between nationalist Iraqis who fought the U.S.-led occupation and their growing alliance with Islamic fighters who want to drive Westerners and their influence out of Iraq.
Posted by: Steve White 2004-07-03
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=37080