国际英语新闻：Maliki renews calls on Iraqis for national reconciliation

BAGHDAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki renewed Saturday his calls on all Iraqis to reconcile and unite after years of differences in the war-torn country.

    "National reconciliation has the main role in regaining stability and it has become a principle that we believe in, not only needed for a certain stage," Maliki told a conference of Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders in Baghdad.

    "I invite everyone to stay in the boat of national reconciliation, the boat of justice, love and equality that will take us to the shore of safety," Maliki said.

    "This conference is a message of national unity and a call for those who boycotted Iraq for sectarian problems to come back," he said.

    Maliki's remarks came a day after a similar call for reconciliation and forgiveness with Saddam Hussein's former Baath party members.

    "We must reconcile with those who were obliged to be members of Baath party in the past time. They are Iraqis and sons of this country," Maliki told another tribal leaders gathering in Baghdad on Friday.

    According to the Iraqi constitution, the Baath party members have been banned from government jobs or being part of the political process, which added more motives to hostile attacks among Iraqi people.

    Earlier, the Iraqi government invited exiled former Iraqi Army officers to return to Iraq, aiming to build national unity. Most of them are former members of the Baath party.

    Also on Saturday's tribal conference, Maliki renewed his call for amendments in the 2005 constitution, which he believes put restrictions on the power of his central government that hampers its ability to deal with national problems.

    He also called for a "national partnership" among all Iraqis by ending the practice of distributing top government jobs on religious and ethnic bases, saying that such system is a "bridge leads to weakness and mismanagement."