Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki on Saturday called on all officers of former leader Saddam Hussein's disbanded army to join the new army.

"The door of the new army is open for members of the former army, officers and soldiers, and the government is prepared to contain all those who have the desire to serve the nation," al- Maliki told a national reconciliation conference aimed at curbing sectarian violence.

More than 200 Iraqi politicians gathered in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad to attend the conference.

Al-Maliki said that former army officers were needed by the new army for "their energy, expertise and skills in order to complete the building of our armed forces."

Former U.S. administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer dissolved the Iraqi army, one of the oldest armies in the region, after the U.S.- led coalition toppled Saddam's regime in 2003.

Al-Maliki said that those who were willing to return to the new army should be loyal to the country and work professionally, adding that the number of those allowed to return to the army would be limited according to the size of the new army.

He also called on the parliament to review the controversial debaathification law to help preserve rights of families of Baathists who served in Saddam's government and lost their jobs after the U.S.-led invasion.

The law bans former members of Saddam's Baath party from any role in public offices and the military, which has been complained by the country's Sunnis.

The reconciliation conference, against the backdrop of daily sectarian violence, aims to bring Iraqi political leaders under one roof to find a common vision to overcome difficulties facing rival communities.

Source: Xinhua