Amnesty backed

(First Edition)

The Salvadorean government has defended an amnesty for civil war human rights abusers as necessary for national reconciliation, dismissing the idea the government might be condemned by the international community, AFP reports from San Salvador.

Led by the dominant conservative parties, the legislative assembly voted on Saturday to approve the amnesty for those named in an independent report for committing abuses during the nearly 12-year civil war, which claimed some 80,000 lives. The report blamed the military for 85 per cent of abuses.