Iraq PM urges Saddam officers to return to army

Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister called for the return of all officers of Saddam Hussein's disbanded army yesterday in a political overture to disaffected Sunni Arabs aimed at reducing sectarian violence. Nuri al-Maliki made the call at a national reconciliation conference of Shi'ites, Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians meant to halt communal bloodshed that has raised the spectre of civil war and was a major reason for US President George W. Bush's decision to review his Iraq strategy.

A senior politician from the powerful Shi'ite Alliance said representatives of some Sunni Arab insurgent groups were in attendance, but delegates said participants' names would remain undisclosed.

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 mostly Sunni insurgency fighting the Shi'ite-led government.

Iraqi officials said Maliki's call was also part of a four-step plan to speed up the transfer of security from multinational forces to Iraqis. The plan includes expanding Iraq's forces, and getting them better training, equipment and weapons.

The Defence Ministry has recruited former Saddam officers but limited the invitation to junior officers. Maliki's plea, addressing a long-time demand by Sunnis, 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.

The conference, which officials said was attended by figures from Saddam's former Baath party who have been living abroad since his ousting, takes place against a backdrop of violence that UN officials estimate kills more than 100 people a day.

Maliki's Shi'ite-led coalition government, which took office seven months ago, has said it would not talk to armed groups with "Iraqi blood on their hands", a comment aimed mainly at Sunni Islamist al Qaeda. But it has extended an olive branch to armed groups that stop fighting and join the political process.