Large quantities of weapons handed over to government by armed group in Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Southern Iraq’s city of Basra had witnessed on Saturday the handing over of large quantities of weapons and ammunition to the government authorities by armed groups during a conference for national reconciliation held in the city.   “This had been another day reflecting positions of honest Iraqis, who have chosen to stand by their Homeland and free themselves from Iraq’s enemies, as quantities of different weaponry had been handed over to the authorities,” Iraq’s State Minister for Reconciliation Affairs, Amer al-Khuzae said in a speech in the conference.   He said that “since the announcement of the National Reconciliation Project, there had been discussions and dialogues inside and outside Iraq with armed groups, who were finally convinced to join the National Reconciliation, and therefore al-Qaeda Organization had lost its supporters, due to the position of these men.”   Khuzae said that reconciliation with ( Iraq ’s former ruling) Baath Party was “rejected, because it had become part of the past, with the exception of the elements who had announced their denouncement of the Party and those who had not committed crimes.”   The Director-General of Basra Police, Lt-Brigadier, Faisal al-Ubady, told the conference that “different types of weapons, including rocket-launchers, mortars, middle and light rifles, had been handed over to the authorities, in response to the calls for national reconciliation.”   “The Basra citizen had began to feel safe and his trust had increased towards the security bodies; that is why he had become convinced with refusing to buy weapons,” Unbady said.   On his part, the Chairman of the Security Committee in Basra Province, Ali Ghanim al-Maliki, said that “the handing over of the weapons had been a positive stand, because it had made the citizen feel safe,” pointing out that Iraqis “appreciate the significance of dialogue and non-violence, after what had happened during the past years.”   He said that the “weapons that had been pinpointed against the country are being used for the interest of the Homeland, through unity, cohesion and national interest.”   Basra , the center of the Province carrying the same name, is 590 km to the south of Baghdad .   SKH (FT)   789