US says Maliki will not pardon some rebels

US White House spokesman Tony Snow said yesterday that Iraq' Prime Minister Maliki "has made clear what a number of people had been wondering about, which is that those who have killed Americans and Iraqis will not be eligible for pardon.

Snow said "As far as the situation regarding amnesty, also, I'll take Prime Minister Maliki at his word, and we do. But keep in mind, again, we're still at a stage where the Iraqis are debating this. Prime Minister Maliki has now made clear what his position is."

Snow added "The Iraqi parliament now is going to take it up, and there will be vigorous debates about it. But he has made his position clear, but he is not somebody who, as the Prime Minister, has the ability to sort of write the law and issue decrees. Instead, it's a democracy now. And we'll have to see what happens. It's not the final word, but at least now he's clarified his position, which is, those who have participated in killings of Americans or Iraqis, coalition forces or Iraqis, will not, under his proposal, be eligible for amnesty."