Iraqi Minister Urges Insurgents To Join Security Forces

Interior Minister Bayan Jabr (file photo) (RFE/RL) 21 November 2005 -- Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr has said Iraqi troops will be ready to take charge of security in the country by the end of next year.

Speaking on Al-Jazeera Television today, Jabr called insurgents to join security forces in order to bring the withdrawal closer.

Also today, Iraq's Foreign Ministry said a national reconciliation conference, expected to take place in late February or early March in Baghdad, will decide on and call for a timetable for withdrawing foreign troops from the country.

The decision was reached on 20 November at an Arab League-sponsored meeting in Cairo.

Today, at least four civilians were killed when a car bomb blew up today in Kanan, northeast of the capital Baghdad.

In the capital, three people, including one police officer, were killed by gunmen.

(AP/AFP)