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I've been reading this article in foreign news, but so far haven't seen it in the US media. If it comes to pass, it'll be very similar to the Kerry/Feingold proposal voted down in the Senate yesterday. It will also show that all the while Bush is telling us to "stay the course", his Ambassador in Iraq has been negotating to withdraw our troops. Entire article; link below; my emphasis.
"THE Iraqi Government will announce a sweeping peace plan as early as tomorrow in a last-ditch effort to end the Sunni insurgency that has taken the country to the brink of civil war.
The 28-point package for reconciliation will offer resistance groups inclusion in the political process and an amnesty for their prisoners if they renounce violence and lay down their arms.
The Government will promise a finite, UN-approved timeline for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq; a halt to US operations against insurgent strongholds; an end to human rights violations, including those by coalition troops; and compensation for victims of attacks by terrorists or Iraqi and coalition forces.
It will pledge to take action against Shia militias and death squads. It will also offer to reviewthe process of "de-Baathification" and financial compensation for the thousands of Sunnis who were purged from senior jobs in the armed forces and civil service after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The deal, which has been seen by The Times newspaper, aims to divide Iraqi insurgents from foreign fighters linked to al-Qa'ida.
It builds on secret talks involving Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani, the US ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, and seven Sunni insurgent groups.
Mr Talabani said that after a "summit" in Baghdad about a month ago the groups made clear their willingness to commence talks with the Iraqi Government.
But one big potential obstacle is whether the US would be willing to grant an amnesty to insurgents who have killed US soldiers but who are not members of extreme groups such as al-Qa'ida. The Bush administration is thought to be split on the issue.
"This is very hard for us, particularly at a time when American servicemen are facing prosecution for alleged war crimes and others are being captured and tortured," a top US official said.
Granting an amnesty would be a "huge political football" before the November mid-term congressional elections in the US, he said.
But he added: "This is what we did after the Second World War, after the Civil War, after the War of Independence. It may be unpalatable and unsavoury but it is how wars end."
The Government intends to form a committee to distinguish between groups that can be considered legitimate resistance and those that are beyond the pale.
"For those that defended their country against foreign troops, we need to open a new page ... They did not mean to destabilise Iraq. They were defending Iraqi soil," said Adnan Ali, a senior member of the Dawa party of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Reading directly from the draft deal, Mahmoud al-Mashaadani, the parliament's Sunni Speaker, told The Times: "There will be a general amnesty to release all the prisoners who were not involved in the shedding of innocent Iraqis' blood."
The Iraqi Government and the US embassy refused to name the insurgent groups in the talks.
But Mr Talabani said that after the last meeting the groups went away to agree their position. He had since received "a message from a common friend that they are ready to discuss finalising an agreement with the United States and the Iraqi Government".
The draft marks the first time the Iraqi Government has endorsed a fixed timeline for the withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq.
"We must agree on a timed schedule to pull out the troops from Iraq, while at the same time building up the Iraqi forces that will guarantee Iraqi security and this must be supported by a United Nations Security Council decision," the document reads.
One insurgent group in the talks said the timetable for withdrawing foreign troops was key.
"We are not against the formation of the new Iraqi Government, but with certain conditions, which are to put a timetable for the pullout of US troops," said Abu Fatma, from the Islamic National Front for Liberation of Iraq.
Mr Khalilzad and Mr Talabani have used the threat of Iranian influence in Iraq to persuade the rebels. "I have said to the Sunnis, they complain to me about Iran, but some of the things they are doing in terms of their fight and the insurgency is serving Iranian interests," Mr Khalilzad said.
Link:
http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19572456%255E401,00.html
"THE Iraqi Government will announce a sweeping peace plan as early as tomorrow in a last-ditch effort to end the Sunni insurgency that has taken the country to the brink of civil war.
The 28-point package for reconciliation will offer resistance groups inclusion in the political process and an amnesty for their prisoners if they renounce violence and lay down their arms.
The Government will promise a finite, UN-approved timeline for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq; a halt to US operations against insurgent strongholds; an end to human rights violations, including those by coalition troops; and compensation for victims of attacks by terrorists or Iraqi and coalition forces.
It will pledge to take action against Shia militias and death squads. It will also offer to reviewthe process of "de-Baathification" and financial compensation for the thousands of Sunnis who were purged from senior jobs in the armed forces and civil service after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The deal, which has been seen by The Times newspaper, aims to divide Iraqi insurgents from foreign fighters linked to al-Qa'ida.
It builds on secret talks involving Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani, the US ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, and seven Sunni insurgent groups.
Mr Talabani said that after a "summit" in Baghdad about a month ago the groups made clear their willingness to commence talks with the Iraqi Government.
But one big potential obstacle is whether the US would be willing to grant an amnesty to insurgents who have killed US soldiers but who are not members of extreme groups such as al-Qa'ida. The Bush administration is thought to be split on the issue.
"This is very hard for us, particularly at a time when American servicemen are facing prosecution for alleged war crimes and others are being captured and tortured," a top US official said.
Granting an amnesty would be a "huge political football" before the November mid-term congressional elections in the US, he said.
But he added: "This is what we did after the Second World War, after the Civil War, after the War of Independence. It may be unpalatable and unsavoury but it is how wars end."
The Government intends to form a committee to distinguish between groups that can be considered legitimate resistance and those that are beyond the pale.
"For those that defended their country against foreign troops, we need to open a new page ... They did not mean to destabilise Iraq. They were defending Iraqi soil," said Adnan Ali, a senior member of the Dawa party of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Reading directly from the draft deal, Mahmoud al-Mashaadani, the parliament's Sunni Speaker, told The Times: "There will be a general amnesty to release all the prisoners who were not involved in the shedding of innocent Iraqis' blood."
The Iraqi Government and the US embassy refused to name the insurgent groups in the talks.
But Mr Talabani said that after the last meeting the groups went away to agree their position. He had since received "a message from a common friend that they are ready to discuss finalising an agreement with the United States and the Iraqi Government".
The draft marks the first time the Iraqi Government has endorsed a fixed timeline for the withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq.
"We must agree on a timed schedule to pull out the troops from Iraq, while at the same time building up the Iraqi forces that will guarantee Iraqi security and this must be supported by a United Nations Security Council decision," the document reads.
One insurgent group in the talks said the timetable for withdrawing foreign troops was key.
"We are not against the formation of the new Iraqi Government, but with certain conditions, which are to put a timetable for the pullout of US troops," said Abu Fatma, from the Islamic National Front for Liberation of Iraq.
Mr Khalilzad and Mr Talabani have used the threat of Iranian influence in Iraq to persuade the rebels. "I have said to the Sunnis, they complain to me about Iran, but some of the things they are doing in terms of their fight and the insurgency is serving Iranian interests," Mr Khalilzad said.
Link:
http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19572456%255E401,00.html