Reuters: Iraqi PM invites Saddam officers to return to army [View All]

[Eugene]

Iraqi PM invites Saddam officers to return to army
16 Dec 2006 10:52:27 GMT
Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday
Iraqi army officers of all ranks sacked after the U.S. invasion in 2003 would be
allowed to reapply for their posts in the new army.

The Shi'ite premier issued the invitation, a gesture towards disgruntled minority
Sunnis, at a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad aimed at easing
sectarian violence that U.N. officials estimate causes more than 100 deaths a day.

Shortly after the U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, U.S. administrator
Paul Bremer quickly dissolved the Iraqi army, a decision experts consider a
miscalculation. Many of its members then joined the ranks of the Sunni insurgency.

The Defence Ministry has recruited former officers of Saddam's army in the past
but limited the invitation to junior ranks. Maliki's invitation was the first
extended to all ranks.

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Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL637127.htm