Under the directive issued by occupation administration chief Paul Bremer, owners of banned arms will have 14 days from June 1 to turn them in.

Detailed procedures were set down for weapons handovers during the amnesty to prevent those complying with the order being shot at by coalition troops. They are to be publicised as widely as possible, a coalition spokesman said.

"Individuals will be instructed to turn in unauthorised weapons by placing the unloaded, disassembled weapon into a clear plastic bag provided by coalition forces and walk slowly to the collection point," a coalition statement said.

"Collection points will be at designated locations like police stations and jointly manned by Iraqi and coalition forces.

"Weapons may only be turned in during daylight hours before 6 pm."

The head of coalition ground forces, Lieutenant General David McKiernan, first announced the new measure Friday in a bid to bring the huge dispersed arsenal of Saddam Hussein's defeated security forces under control.

Military hardware including mortars, hand grenades and even Israeli Uzis has found its way into the hands of Iraqi civilians. A roadblock right outside a US camp witnessed by AFP netted three Kalashnikovs in searches of 50 cars.

Under the new policy, Iraqis will need a temporary weapons card issued by coalition commanders to carry small arms outside their homes and businesses, and must do so openly.

All heavy weapons, explosives and automatic weapons firing ammunition larger than 7.62 millimetres will be outlawed, as will the open arms markets which have sprung up on Iraqi streets since the war.

Those without permits will be allowed to keep small arms in their homes and workplaces for self-defence, but they will not be allowed to take them outside.

Announcing the new policy Friday, McKiernan said the special provision for householders and businesspeople had been unavoidable amid the wave of violent crime still plaguing the city.

"After June 14, individuals caught with unauthorised weapons will be detained and face criminal charges," the coalition statement said.

The only exemptions would be for "coalition forces, police, security and other forces in uniform under the supervision and authority of the coalition."

McKiernan made clear Friday that the last category would include militiamen of the two Kurdish factions which have controlled much of northern Iraq under Western protection since the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf war and which fought alongside the coalition this year.

But the exemption sparked an angry reaction from Iraq's main Shiite Muslim faction, the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), which insisted that the ban be applied equally.

"Maybe we didn't fight with the coalition, but we didn't fight against them," (SAIRI) official Adel Abdul Mahdi told the New York Times.

"We want conditions where all militias are dissolved and we will not accept that other militias will be allowed to stay there with their weapons while we will not be there with ours."

SAIRI maintained its own armed wing before the war in exile in Iran. The coalition barred it from entering Iraq, although many of its members have since slipped across the border.

The Pentagon-backed Iraqi National Congress also has a military arm, which US commanders say will be "demilitarized."

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