Iraq's prime minister announced a limited amnesty for Iraqi insurgents on Saturday and extended an olive branch to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose loyalists have staged an uprising in several cities. But a U.S. military commander said "all bets are off" with Sadr's Mehdi Army after the shattering of a two-month-old ceasefire, adding U.S. Marines had been engaged in hand-to-hand combat in recent days in the holy city of Najaf. Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said there was no need for emergency laws to stabilise Iraq despite the fighting in Najaf and several other cities including Baghdad. He played down the role of the young firebrand cleric in the uprising. "We do not feel that there is a need for emergency law, the situation is still under control despite what the media is trying to propagate," Allawi told a news conference. A senior Iraqi official, appearing with Allawi, said the long-awaited amnesty would last for 30 days. He said it would not apply to insurgents who have murdered, raped or looted. "This order has been established to allow citizens to rejoin the civil society and participate in the reconstruction of their country instead of wasting their lives pointlessly towards a lost cause," Allawi said. --More 2318 Local Time 2018 GMT
