Iraqi government passes amnesty law

The Iraqi cabinet yesterday approved the General Amnesty Law for prisoners detained on sectarian grounds and forwarded it to the parliament for a vote.

The law comes as part of a series of steps for political reform following US pressure in order to win over Iraq’s Sunnis.

Sunni politicians claim that hundreds of prisoners who were arrested during the rule of former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki were detained on sectarian grounds.

Iraq’s Sunni political forces had three demands before they would agree to form a coalition government led by Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, they included the General Amnesty Law, the National Guard Act and the abolition of the Accountability and Justice law.

The Shia National Alliance rejects the National Guard Act which Sunni actors believe it is key to achieving military balance in the country, especially with the presence of thousands of Shia fighters in Sunni provinces.

Sunni factions expressed fear that Shia fighters would commit acts of violence in Sunni dominated areas after liberating them from Islamic State (ISIS), they highlighted that this had occurred in Tikrit where Sunni mosques and houses were burned by Shia fighters.