Fallujah cautioned as Iraq pledges amnesty on arms

IRAQ’S interim government will declare a nationwide arms amnesty next week, but insists the city of Fallujah must turn in foreign militants or face assault, National Security Adviser Kassim Daoud said yesterday.

Daoud would not be drawn on the timing of a Fallujah offensive if the city did not hand over militants led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, America’s top enemy in Iraq. “We have a timetable and we will stick to it,” he said.

Addressing Iraqi lawmakers, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi confirmed the nationwide arms handover, a plan that, depending on its success, could point to the government’s ability to organise nationwide polls by the end of January.