Iraq

Allawi talks with Sadr about amnesty

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Sunday that he is negotiating an amnesty with militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and is prepared to offer the same deal to insurgents willing to surrender their arms and end the campaign against the new Iraqi government and U.S.-led multinational force.

Despite Sadr's call Friday for ongoing resistance to U.S. forces, Allawi said he met with a delegation from Sadr's Mahdi Army over the weekend to discuss dismantling the militia as a precondition for Sadr to join the political process taking shape since the U.S.-led occupation ended a week ago.

"He is looking for an amnesty. He is looking to be part of the political process," Allawi said on ABC's This Week.

Offering both carrot and stick, he said his young government will not tolerate ongoing activities by any militia. "Everybody should follow the bounds of the law, whether it's Muqtada Sadr or anybody else," Allawi said.

Meanwhile, Sadr pledged Sunday to resist "oppression and occupation" and called the new interim Iraqi government "illegitimate." His office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf distributed the statement.

Violence continued throughout Iraq on Sunday as Iraqi troops thwarted a car bombing outside their regional headquarters in Baqubah, northeast of Baghdad, killing an attacker before he could detonate his vehicle.

Saboteurs also blew up part of a strategic crude oil pipeline that runs from the country's northern oil fields to the south, police officials said. Fire crews and police from at least three nearby cities worked into the night to extinguish the blaze near Musayyib, 50 miles southwest of Baghdad.

FOREIGN INVOLVEMENT? Iraq's interim government has evidence that neighboring countries have helped Iraqi insurgents and will publish its findings this week, a senior minister was quoted as saying Sunday. In an interview with London's Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Iraq had intelligence showing that foreign nations had provided financial support, logistical assistance and training to militants who have waged a campaign of bombings, shootings and kidnappings since the fall of Saddam Hussein. He did not name the countries, but the newspaper said Iraqi officials have pointed to Syria and Iran.

World and national headlines

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright