Baghdad, Iraq ? Iraq’s prime minister unveiled a 24-point national reconciliation initiative Sunday, offering amnesty to insurgents who renounce violence and have not committed terror attacks.

Nouri al-Maliki’s much-anticipated plan lacked important details, but issued specific instructions to Iraqi security forces to rapidly take control of the country so U.S. and other foreign troops can leave eventually. It did not include a deadline for their withdrawal.

Al-Maliki said Iraq also must deal with the problem of militias, which are blamed for a surge of sectarian bloodshed that has worsened violence in Iraq – where at least 29 people were killed Sunday.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad congratulated the government on the initiative.

The new government is reaching out to Iraq’s disenchanted Sunni Arab minority, which is at the heart of the insurgency, in hopes of enticing Sunnis into taking a place in the new Iraq and giving up the rebellion.

Iraqi Interior Ministry commandos attend the scene after a bomb struck a commando patrol, killing one and wounding three on Sunday in the Zayounah area of east Baghdad, Iraq.

“To those who want to rebuild our country, we present an olive branch,” al-Maliki told applauding lawmakers. “And to those who insist on killing and terrorism, we present a fist with the power of law to protect our country and people.”

While al-Maliki set no timetable for an American troop pullout, officials in Washington reported that Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top commander in Iraq, had drafted a plan for drawing down the American presence by two combat brigades in late summer or early autumn.

The New York Times said officials indicated the reduction could involve the 1st Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, which patrols a swath of west Baghdad, and the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, in troublesome Diyala and Salahuddin provinces.

According to the report, those brigades would not be replaced numerically and their duties would be assumed by U.S. forces from elsewhere in Iraq. The Times said the Casey plan envisioned eventually cutting U.S. forces from the current 14 brigades to five or six by the end of 2007.

Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said any reduction in forces would depend on conditions in Iraq and be made in consultation with the Iraqi government.

“Based on ongoing assessments of the conditions on the ground, force levels could go up or down over time in order to meet the evolving requirements for the mission in Iraq,” he told The Associated Press.