Iraq moves toward amnesty

BAGHDAD - Iraq's cabinet yesterday approved the draft of a general amnesty bill for detainees in Iraqi prisons, a measure that could go a long way toward reconciling Iraq's warring sects and factions.

But the measure will not be brought to parliament for debate until March at the earliest, said Sami al-Askari, a key adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Many key draft laws - including measures to share oil revenue and to allow some members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to hold government jobs - have remained mired for months in Iraq's gridlocked parliament.

There was no immediate reaction from Sunni lawmakers who have in the past called for such a bill.

Askari, a member of parliament, said the amnesty would not cover those convicted of terrorism, corruption, crimes against humanity and kidnapping. The draft will also not involve prisoners being held by American forces, said Sadiq al-Rikabi, another Maliki adviser.

The Iraqi government and the U.S. military each hold more than 20,000 prisoners detained since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

It was unclear how many prisoners might be affected by the proposed ban. Askari estimated that "80 percent of those held in Iraqi prisons are there for terrorist crimes. Therefore the amnesty would be for a limited number."

The cabinet vote came as U.S. officials forecast less violence in Iraq in 2008, despite a planned reduction of American troops. The combination of more Sunni fighters in the Iraqi army and a recent backlash against militants will allow U.S.-led troops to leverage their ability to subdue violent areas, according to Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a U.S. military spokesman.

"Those forces will help coalition forces fight above their weight," he told reporters. "They will help offset the reduction in coalition numbers."

The Bush administration plans to withdraw 30,000 American troops from Iraq by July, which would put the U.S. force level there at about 135,000.

In northern Iraq, Kurdish officials have delayed for six months a required referendum to decide whether the oil-rich city of Kirkuk will become part of their self-rule area or remain under control of the Shiite-dominated central government.

There was no immediate comment from the Iraqi government in Baghdad, but the referendum was widely expected to be delayed by months.

Kirkuk is an especially coveted city for both the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Kurdish one in Irbil, largely because much of Iraq's oil wealth lies below it.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said an insurgent killed last month had been identified as a senior leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and a former associate of its late leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by U.S. forces last year.

Abu Abdullah, also known as Muhammad Sulayman Shunaythir al-Zubai, was killed by coalition troops north of Baghdad on Nov. 8.

The U.S. military said two soldiers were killed during fighting yesterday in Nineveh province in the north. Three soldiers were wounded.