"The organisation of Al-Qaeda is not interested in reconciliation -- not here, in Africa, or anywhere else," Amir al-Khuzai said.

"But our proposal is for Iraqi members who work for or are forced to join Al-Qaeda, we want to give them a chance to come back to normal life."

Khuzai, who is minister of state for national reconciliation, added: "We will not talk to the organisation. We want to talk to Iraqi individuals who have a desire to reconcile."

He warned, however, that if any of the members of the Islamic State of Iraq, Al-Qaeda's front group, had killed or wounded anyone, cases against them would not be dropped in the name of reconciliation.

The ISI has claimed responsibility for several spectacular attacks in Iraq in past years, but security officials have said that as the capabilities of local security forces have strengthened, the insurgent network has resorted to easier targeted assassinations.

earlier related report
Iraqi judge killed as insurgents bomb house
Baghdad (AFP) April 30, 2011 - Insurgents planted bombs around the home of an Iraqi judge and blew it up on Saturday north of Baghdad, killing him and at least one of his children, police and judicial officials said.

Tuama al-Tamimi and one of his children were killed in the attack, but there were conflicting reports of whether any of Tamimi's other family members also died in the blast in Taji, 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Baghdad.

One of the judge's bodyguards was also shot dead overnight.

Tamimi's killing, along with the murder of an industry ministry official, is the latest in a string of targeted attacks against senior civilian and military officials in Iraq, and comes with just months to go before US forces withdraw from Iraq completely.

"The judge was killed along with his wife and daughter," police Captain Ahmed Fahd al-Khalidi told AFP. "The insurgents put jerry cans of explosive materials in two or three locations around his house and blew it up at around 5:00 am (0200 GMT)."

"The house collapsed," he added.

Judicial spokesman Abdelsattar Birakdar, however, told AFP that Tamimi was killed along with three of his children, with the judge's wife and another child being treated in hospital.

Near the judge's home, gunmen also entered the house of one of Tamimi's police bodyguards early on Saturday and shot him dead, an interior ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Judges in Iraq have frequently been targeted by insurgents for assassination, and many have bodyguards.

Also in Taji, gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms stormed the home of an industry ministry official and killed him and his daughter, the interior ministry official said.

On hearing the attack, neighbours came out of their homes and clashes ensued with the attackers, leaving one insurgent dead and two civilians wounded. The remaining gunmen managed to flee the scene.

The killings of Tamimi and the industry ministry official were the latest in an apparent trend of targeting senior Iraqi officials, in a spate of attacks that have been blamed on Al-Qaeda.

Four other officials have been killed in less than two weeks, and at least three others have narrowly escaped being murdered.

The Islamic State of Iraq, Al-Qaeda's front group in the country, posted a statement on the Internet jihadist forum Honein last week, claiming to have carried out 62 "operations" between the start of March and April 5.

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