- BAGHDAD (AP) -- Interim Iraqi
Prime Minister Ayad Allawi signed a long-awaited amnesty law Saturday that
would pardon Iraqis who had committed minor crimes, but not those guilty
of killing.
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- The amnesty, which had been expected to be a key element
in the government's efforts to put down a 15-month-old insurgency, came
as sporadic clashes continued in the holy Shiite city of Najaf after two
days of intense fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite Muslim insurgents.
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- Shiite leaders worked Saturday to restore a ceasefire
and aides to militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia was
involved in the fighting, appealed to UN officials to mediate an end to
the violence.
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- The amnesty had been intended to help put down similar
outbursts of violence, coaxing nationalist guerrillas to the government's
side, while separating them from fighters using terrorist-style bombings.
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- "This amnesty is not for people...who have killed.
Those people will be brought to justice, starting from Zarqawi down to
the person in the street," Mr. Allawi said, referring to Jordanian
militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose followers have claimed responsibility
for deadly suicide bombings.
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- The amnesty would forgive those who committed minor crimes
between May 1, 2003, just after the fall of former Iraqi president Saddam
Hussein's regime, and Saturday, he said. Those eligible would need to turn
themselves in over the next 30 days, he said.
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- "This order has been established to allow our citizens
to rejoin civil society and participate in the reconstruction of their
country and the improvement of their lives, instead of wasting their lives
pointlessly toward a lost cause," he said.
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- Those eligible for the amnesty include people in possession
of light arms and explosives, those who hid intelligence about terrorist
groups and people who helped those groups commit crimes, Mr. Allawi said.
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- Meanwhile, Iraqi religious leaders tried to restore a
ceasefire between Mr. al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militants and coalition and
Iraqi forces.
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- Mr. Al-Sadr aides met in Baghdad on Saturday with Iraqi
dignitaries and UN official Jamal Benomar.
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- "We called for a more effective UN role, the end
of military actions, respecting the truce and a political solution for
this crisis," said Ali al-Yassiry, an al-Sadr aide.
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- Mr. Benomar said Mr. al-Sadr's group was prepared for
an immediate ceasefire and had asked for a meeting between their group
and Mr. Allawi and Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer.
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- Much of the main fighting appeared over by Saturday afternoon.
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- In Najaf, U.S. warplanes flew overhead and American armoured
vehicles and Humvees blocked the main roads into the city, but most streets
appeared deserted. Sporadic explosions and gunfire echoed through the city,
but the violence was far less than that of the previous days.
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- Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zurufi on Friday gave insurgents
24 hours to leave the city.
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- On Saturday, it was unclear if militiamen were withdrawing,
though none were present outside Mr. al-Sadr's house, which is usually
heavily guarded.
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- The U.S. military said two marines were killed in Najaf
on Friday "as a result of enemy action." Also Friday, an insurgent
fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a patrolling U.S. vehicle in Baghdad,
killing one soldier.
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- Mr. Allawi said more than 1,200 people had been arrested
during the clashes, some were followers of Mr. Hussein's regime, others
were common criminals released in a prison amnesty during Mr. Hussein's
rule.
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- Operations to restore security in Najaf would continue,
he said.
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- "The Iraqi police, National Guard and the army will
escalate their operations against the outlaw people. This should be clear,"
he said.
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- Friday's clashes were the fiercest since the fall of
Mr. Hussein, with U.S. helicopter gunships and fighter jets pounding insurgents
hiding in a sprawling cemetery in Najaf.
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- On Saturday, the U.S. military said it had secured the
cemetery. U.S. marines also found weapons caches there, including bomb-making
materials, rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and ammunition.
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- In the capital, guerrillas fired five mortar rounds into
central Baghdad about 7:30 a.m., local time, Saturday, damaging two sport
utility vehicles, but causing no serious damage, the U.S. military said.
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- In a separate attack just before midday, two other mortar
shells struck a wall outside Iraq's National Olympic Committee, injuring
two guards, said Ahmed al-Hijeya head of the committee. Police said those
shells, which exploded near the Iranian Embassy just before midday, wounded
five people in all.
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- In the southern city of Basra, gunmen attacked the governor's
office at dawn with rifles and mortar rounds. Police returned fire, repelling
the attack and killing one of the gunmen, police Captain Mustaq Talib said.
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- In Amarah, insurgents attacked a British base and the
main Iraqi police station overnight with mortars, said Major Ian Clooney,
a British military spokesman. There were no reports of injuries.
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- The violence threatened to re-ignite a bloody, two-month
Shiite insurrection that broke out in April - and the heavy U.S. response
appeared designed to quash militia activity quickly and prevent a repeat.
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- The Najaf casualty figures varied widely.
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- Falah Muhana, a Health Ministry official in Najaf, said
the city's hospitals reported 21 people killed and 121 injured. The U.S.
military said 300 militants were killed in Najaf.
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