Iraq's Shia prime minister called today for the return of all officers of Saddam Hussein's disbanded army in an overture to disaffected Sunni Arabs aimed at reducing sectarian violence.
Nuri al-Maliki made the call at a national reconciliation conference of Shia, Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians called to halt communal bloodshed that has raised the specter of civil war and was a major reason for US President George W. Bush's decision to review his Iraq strategy.
"The new Iraqi army is opening the door to former Iraqi army officers. Those who do not come back will be given pensions," Mr Maliki said, in remarks in which he also told leaders to embrace reconciliation as a "safety net from death and destruction."
Shortly after the US invasion to topple Saddam, US administrator Paul Bremer dissolved the Iraqi army, a move experts said drove many Sunni Arab soldiers and officers into the Sunni-led insurgency.
The Defense Ministry has recruited former officers of Saddam's army but limited the invitation to junior officers. Maliki's plea, addressing a long-standing Sunni demand, was the first extended to all ranks.
The US military has been training the new, 300,000-strong Iraqi army as part of a plan eventually to withdraw its 135,000 troops. But Sunnis view the Shia-dominated army with suspicion and there are doubts about its sectarian loyalties.
The conference, attended by figures from Saddam's former Baath party who have been living abroad since his ouster, takes place against a backdrop of violence that UN officials estimate kills more than 100 people a day.