Iraq delays amnesty notice

2004-07-05 17:52

Baghdad - Iraq's caretaker government on Monday delayed announcing a limited amnesty for people who have supported the resistance as a low-level insurgency continued one week after Baghdad was handed power.

Oil prices rose after the latest attack on a pipeline, while The New York Times said a broad network of former president Saddam Hussein's extended family was helping to fund and arm the insurgency.

Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, commenting on the delayed amnesty announcement, told reporters that he wanted to ensure "human and citizen rights guarantees."

Justice Minister Malik Dohan al-Hassan was originally scheduled to make the announcement on Monday, but the news conference was cancelled at the last minute.

The government believes it can sway some insurgents who joined the resistance for money.

Last week, Allawi said an amnesty would be declared for anyone who acted against the US-led occupation but did not commit a crime, such as those who harboured weapons without using them or kept quiet about insurgents' actions.

In rumbling violence, three Iraqis were killed and 11 wounded in four separate attacks across the country against police and US soldiers.

Two relatives of a district head in the troubled city of Baquba were killed by unknown attackers late on Sunday, a spokesperson for the governorate said.

Funding from Saddam supporters

An Iraqi civilian was also killed and three wounded when their house was hit during a rocket attack on a police station in the southern city of Basra, police said.

Another Iraqi civilian was wounded when a roadside bomb targeting a US convoy exploded near Samawa on Monday, an Iraqi national guard spokesperson said.

Five Iraqi civilians were wounded in an early morning roadside bombing in the main northern city of Mosul, the US military said.

On Sunday, three people were also killed and one wounded in a foiled suicide car bombing against an Iraqi national guard station in Baquba.

The city, 60km northeast of Baghdad, witnessed frequent attacks against the US-led occupation and was rocked by a major offensive in late June that saw the US military battling rebels in the streets.

After a string of deadly car bombings, major attacks have dipped since the former US-led coalition handed power to Iraq's caretaker government last Monday.

Officials have warned that the lull might be due to insurgents plotting their next step.

The New York Times cited US government officials and a prominent Iraqi as saying heavy funding for the rebels is coming from Saddam supporters in Syria.

One of the leaders is Saddam's cousin, Fatiq Suleiman al-Majid, described as a former officer in Iraq's Special Security Organization who fled to Syria after the US-led invasion, the Times reported.

- AFP