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Iraq PM Urges Saddam Soldiers to Return

Posted on: Saturday, 16 December 2006, 18:00 CST

Iraq's embattled prime minister Saturday called on former supporters of Saddam Hussein, including soldiers of the disbanded army, to join the peace process.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made the call at a national reconciliation conference of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians, the Middle East Online news service reported.

Maliki, a Shiite who was an exile with a death sentence under the Saddam regime, urged former soldiers from Saddam's defeated army to join Iraq's new security forces to fight the armed factions tearing the country apart.

The Iraqi army opens its doors to officers and soldiers from the former army who wish to serve the country, Maliki said.

The Defense Ministry has recruited former Saddam officers but limited the invitation to junior officers. Maliki's plea, addressing a longtime demand by Sunnis, was the first extended to all ranks.

Maliki also urged delegates to review the post-Saddam law that banned tens of thousands of Saddam's Baath party activists from working in the new government, as well as in public schools and colleges.

I call upon parliament to review the constitutional items regarding such committees as de-Baathification and the anti-corruption committee to embody the principle of forgiveness, he said.

Source: United Press International

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