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Iraq's Interim Leader Signs Emergency Law

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's interim prime minister has signed a long-anticipated law that gives him the authority to impose emergency measures to safeguard the country's security, an official in his office said Wednesday.

The new law signed by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi gives Iraqi officials the right to impose martial law in special circumstances and for limited periods of time in specific places, said Nassir Nassir, an official in Allawi's office. The law has been signed and approved by the government, he said.

Allawi and his government have delayed the announcement of the law designed to combat Iraq's violent insurgency on several occasions. A news conference to announce the final draft of the law is set for later Wednesday.

The law is expected to include a package of initiatives to combat the insurgency.

On Saturday, Allawi's spokesman, Georges Sada, suggested that guerrillas who fought the Americans before the sovereignty transfer could be eligible for amnesty because their actions were legitimate acts of resistance.

However, the deputy prime minister for national security, Barham Saleh, said the Cabinet was discussing an amnesty offer and was deliberating how to give "people an opportunity to reintegrate within society" while 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 that have come to help us overcome tyranny."

Officials declined to release a copy of the law before the news conference, and its final details were not immediately clear.

A senior U.S. military official speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Americans believe the new law will not detract from the efforts of coalition forces here.

"We'll still be able to go out and do our mission," the official said while speaking on condition of anonymity. "There may be a requirement or need for increase of coordination with specific rules and specific measures that are going to be put in place by the Iraqi government."

The official did not elaborate.

The U.S. military has increasingly been handing over security responsibilities to Iraqi police and national guard forces. However, the Iraqi forces are largely ill-equipped and ill-trained to handle such duties alone.

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