New Iraqi government must decide scope of amnesty plan

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The interim Iraqi government, starting its second week on the job, Sunday prepared to launch an amnesty program for insurgents that is already stirring controversy in Iraq and the United States.

The proposal, which is still being debated within the government, would offer a reprieve for militants who have been battling U.S. and Iraqi forces. But questions about just how far to go, and who to exclude from such an amnesty, could be incendiary.

Foremost among those questions will be whether to pardon those responsible for the deaths of U.S. soldiers, Iraqi civilians and members of the country’s new security forces. A spokesman for Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said anyone guilty of such attacks “would be considered a criminal.” But Allawi said Sunday that he is already in negotiations with representatives of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr over a general amnesty to members of his Mahdi Army militia. Since April, the militia has battled U.S. troops and Iraqi police in Baghdad and several southern cities.

“It depends really on … whether they will surrender the weapons or not. Once they do this, they are welcome,” Allawi said on ABC’s “This Week.” “Anybody who respects the rule of law and the human rights is welcome to be part of Iraq. Anybody who does not is not clearly welcome.”

A final amnesty proposal, and the balance it strikes between accountability and forgiveness, could help determine whether the new government can blunt the country’s persistent insurgency. Attacks continued Sunday against both Iraqi security forces and the nation’s vital oil infrastructure.

Proponents of a broad amnesty argue that former insurgents should get a fresh start now that the occupying coalition has ceded authority to an Iraqi government. This, they say, would be a necessary step toward integrating former Baathists and other sidelined groups into the new Iraqi society — and an early credibility test for the government.

But others decry the idea of letting those with blood on their hands go free.

“I think it’s dangerous if we get into compromising, of giving amnesty to people who have attacked American men and women, killed American men and women, been responsible for the insurgency,” said Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., speaking on CNN’s “Late Edition.” But he added, “I think once you’ve passed sovereignty, I think we have responsibility to live true to that.”

“Ultimately the people of Iraq will have to make peace with each other,” said Feisal Istrabadi, an Iraqi American lawyer who helped write the country’s interim constitution. “I think the government is trying to be creative.”

The question of amnesty illustrates the tightrope Allawi must walk in an effort to bring peace to violence-torn Iraq.

Allawi, himself an ex-Baath Party member, recognizes the need to reconcile with Baathists who were marginalized by the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government. Baathist officers are believed to be among the leaders of the insurgency that has thwarted U.S. efforts to reconstruct Iraq.

But the new government must not alienate Shiite and Kurdish populations that suffered greatly under Saddam and are anxious to see ex-Baathist officials face justice. Iraqis who have lost family members to insurgent violence could also object to a sweeping amnesty.

“There is always a very difficult balance that we have to strike between giving people an opportunity back to re-integrate within society,” said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih during an interview on CNN, “but at the same time remaining firm against people who have committed atrocities and have committed crimes against the people of Iraq and against the coalition forces.”

The new government in Baghdad must also pay close attention to the sensibilities of its U.S. patrons, who control the purse strings of reconstruction and provide the bulk of the more than 150,000 foreign troops who maintain security here.

U.S. officials have said insurgents found to have attacked coalition forces will face charges in Iraqi courts, and 4,000 or more suspected insurgents will remain in U.S. custody because they represent a continuing security threat.

Georges Sada, a spokesman for Allawi, said Sunday that any amnesty offer would be “a very independent decision” by the new government. “But of course, as friends, we always continue to coordinate and cooperate (with U.S. officials).” Sada said the amnesty idea is being studied by the Justice Ministry, but any proposed reprieve for insurgents would be dependent on their willingness to give up the fight.

“We already have many people willing to hand over their weapons and start fresh,” he said. However, he said, “If somebody killed a U.S. soldier or an Iraqi soldier, then he would be considered a criminal.”

Some feel that for an amnesty to truly have any meaning, it will have to encompass those with blood on their hands. Otherwise, it reduces the motivation for insurgents to stop fighting.

“Carving out exceptions defeats the point of an amnesty,” said Istrabadi. “You don’t want to back your opponent in a corner. You have to give them a way out.”