Iraqi Parliament approves controversial amnesty law
After numerous delays, the Iraqi parliament approved an amnesty law that addresses Sunni and Shiite grievances stemming from post-2003 prosecutions.
Baghdad — After a long, hard process of give and take, the Iraqi parliament approved a General Amnesty Law Aug. 25. The vote was 250-78, with a majority of the Sunni blocs supporting the law, while a group of Shiite legislators from the National Alliance opposed it. The law took effect immediately.
Debate on the law had been held Aug. 15 before being postponed to Aug. 23, due to the Badr Organization, Islamic Virtue Party and State of Law Coalition, all members of the National Alliance, withdrawing in protest against the reading of a previous draft of the legislation under which more people would qualify for release than they wanted. The Aug. 23 session was also postponed, due to differences among the political blocs.
