Iraqi PM Presents Reconciliation Plan

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made an official announcement on Sunday, stating that his administration had devised a plan for national reconciliation that would ultimately lead to the eradication of the "ugly picture" life in Iraq has acquired in the last few months.


Even though this plan has produced many disputes and intense debates over its provisions and what they should stipulate, not to mention the fact that it had been long awaited, Maliki's 15 minute official address baffled many because it did lack a lot of important details regarding the specific approaches and angles this reconciliation plan would actually work on.

In addition, it did not mention anything concerning potential negotiations with Sunni insurgent factions nor a reversal of the series of bans imposed on the Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party supporters. However, it did stipulate a revision of the so called "de-Ba'athification laws" in the sense that they would be barred from office.

Moreover, the plan did not mention anything with regard to party militias, which are generally made up of supporters of the Shi'a and Kurdish groups from the political tormented ruling governmental coalition.

According to many analysts' observations, the plan, as it was outlined by al-Maliki, was made up of many of the principles and measures issued by the government last month. One of them revolves around the fact that "There will be an amnesty for those who did not take part in criminal and terrorist acts, and war crimes and crimes against humanity", al-Maliki stated, making a reference to a previous call for the US military to deal with Sunni pleas of releasing more than 13,000 detainees held in US prisons without any charges.

In reply to this particular concern, the British Defense Secretary Des Browne declared that what al-Maliki is asking for actually implies a very high degree of risk, yet the government should be able to meet the challenge: "Of course it is a risk. It is a risk that the Iraqi government is contemplating. People ought to recognize that this is a significant indication of the progress that the government of national unity has made in Iraq, that they are able to start addressing this issue".