Turkish parliament OKs amnesty for Kurdish rebels

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Turkey's parliament on Tuesday approved a new amnesty bill to encourage Kurdish rebels to lay down their arms in exchange for less severe prison terms.

Thousands of Kurdish rebels, fighting for autonomy from Turkey, are believed to be based across the border in northern Iraq. The United States has encouraged an amnesty, saying it will help provide stability in Iraq and in the region. The bill, approved by a vote of 356-71, excludes top rebel leaders.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer must sign the law before it takes effect.

"One of the visions that all of us, Turks and Americans, have for Iraq, is an Iraq that has no connection with terrorists or terrorist organizations," U.S. Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman said in an interview with CNN-Turk television broadcast Tuesday.

Kurdish rebels fought a 15-year war with the Turkish army in a bid for regional autonomy for southeastern Turkey.

Some 37,000 people died as a result of the fighting. Although combat has died down since the rebels declared a cease-fire in 1999, sporadic clashes continue.

Groups representing families of Turkish soldiers killed in the fighting and some lawmakers oppose the amnesty, saying it will fuel terrorism.

Pro-Kurdish groups want any amnesty to include Kurdish rebel leaders, saying it would contribute to peace.

Under the new measure, rebels who have not been involved in any violence will be pardoned if they surrender.

Those surrendering who were involved in armed attacks will receive reduced prison terms. But they would first have to provide information about the rebel group.

Under the deal, a life sentence would be reduced to nine years in prison.

The government has estimated that about half of the estimated 4,500 Kurdish rebels would seek such amnesty.

Hundreds of Kurdish rebels applied for reduced sentences under a similar amnesty in 1999, officials said.

Although the amnesty mainly targets Kurdish rebels, members of other illegal leftist or Islamist organizations would also benefit, including members of Hezbollah, a radical Islamic group suspected of scores of killings throughout Turkey but is not linked to the Lebanon-based guerrilla group of the same name.