(Repeat for technical reasons) WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The White House on Saturday praised a speech by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in which the Shi'ite prime minister made an overture toward Sunnis by calling for the return of officers of Saddam Hussein's disbanded army. "We're encouraged by Prime Minister Maliki's speech this morning in Baghdad," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. "He reiterated his commitment to bringing militias and insurgents under control and halting the violence. He is clearly in favor of forming an Iraq based on national unity and not individual sects," he said. Johndroe did not specifically cite the call for return of officer's from Saddam's army but did say that reconciliation was an important part of stabilizing Iraq. "The United States urges the parties to the national reconciliation conference to chart a course that brings stability and security to a unified and democratic Iraq," Johndroe said. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam, U.S. administrator Paul Bremer dissolved the Iraqi army, a move experts said drove many Sunni soldiers and officers into the Sunni insurgency. But Maliki, at a national reconciliation conference of Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians, said, "The new Iraqi army is opening the door to former Iraqi army officers." Johndroe said he also agreed with Maliki's call for Iraq's neighbors to "play a constructive role in rebuilding the country."
