Iraqi PM is preparing major announcement Thursday night of full amnesty to all Iraqi armed groups which lay down arms

This offer was agreed in Nouri al-Mailiki’s talks with US President George W. Bush in Baghdad Tuesday, June 13. Some of the smaller guerrilla groups are already committed to the deal.

DEBKAfile reports from Baghdad: Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie issued his assessment of al Qaeda’s fading prospects Thursday in order to persuade more insurgent groups to come forward and take up the government’s offer.

Ansar al Sunna, the largest Iraqi group federated with al Qaeda, has already struck back by murdering the prime minister’s cousin, Sabah al-Maliki, commander of the Shiite Badr Force Organization in western Iraq.