Reconciliation process ends with U.S. withdrawal

[Stillw8n]

Reconciliation process ends with U.S. withdrawal

27/10/2011 16:51
Baghdad, Oct. 27 (AKnews) – The national reconciliation process which allows armed groups to lay down their weapons and join the peaceful political process will end when U.S. forces have left the country at the end of this year.

Amer al-Khuzaie, adviser to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for the national reconciliation, said that any group that has not joined the reconciliation process by then will be considered out of law.

“Any possible justification for their existence — like for instance the presence of a foreign power on Iraqi soil — ends with the departure of U.S. forces,” Khuzaie said.

More than 50 armed groups are active in Iraq, such as members of the Baath party of the former regime, the “Islamic Army”, the Iranian backed “Hezbollah”, the “League of the Righteous” or the “Islamic State of Iraq”, that is operating under the command of al-Qaeda.

A number of these groups laid down their weapons and joined the political process, while most of them rejected that, saying that the political process is “legally invalid” because it was built under the auspices of “the American occupation”.

Although article seven of Iraqi constitutions says that any group that promotes or justifies terrorism must be excluded from the political process, the reconciliation process was implemented to stabilize the security situation in the country.

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