BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 25 — The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, presented a muted "national reconciliation" plan today that outlined a general direction for his new government but offered neither a broad amnesty for insurgents nor any new options for members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, the two most controversial points.

Also today, an Islamic militant group that represents Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia posted a video on the Internet that shows the beheading of one person purported to be a Russian Embassy worker and the shooting death of another. The militant group, the Mujahideen Shura, claimed to have executed four Russians, although that has not been confirmed by Moscow. The Russians ere kidnapped on June 3 in central Baghdad.

Islamic militants had virtually stopped beheading captives over the past year, after Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy in Al Qaeda, warned the tactic was having an adverse affect.

In all, at least 19 Iraqis were killed in violence across the country today, according to a tally by Reuters. In the third large-scale kidnapping this month, gunmen seized 16 employees of a technology institute north of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.

Mr. Maliki's plan, intended to draw down insurgent attacks through dialogue and amnesty, was weeks in the making, with all of Iraq's religious and ethnic political blocs participating. But Mr. Maliki appeared to have chosen a version that did not stake out any new ground and simply repackaged previous pronouncements. The government pardon would apply only to detainees who "were not involved in criminal or terrorist activities," a category of people, whom, it appeared, would have been released anyway.

"Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the principles in that plan have been included in the constitution and in the political program of the government," said one government official, who asked not to be identified because he did not want to be seen as critical. "It's basically collecting them and putting them under one umbrella."

The American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, said at a news briefing later today that the amnesty, thought to be a key element of the plan, would be "context dependent," and that "a lot of details will need to be worked out." But he said that the amnesty would not give cover to insurgents who had attacked Americans.

"Those who've lost their lives to liberate this country and provide a historic opportunity, their sacrifice will be respected," Mr. Khalilzad said.

Sunni Arab politicians who claim to be close to the insurgency say that in order to stop Sunni Arab fighting, the new government must acknowledge and negotiate with Iraqi guerilla "resistance" fighters, who oppose the American occupation.

Mr. Maliki did not address the issue in detail, but said only that the government would offer an "olive branch" to those guerillas who "want to build," but would prosecute to the full extent of the law those insurgents who "insist on aggression, terror and killing."

"We want outspoken acknowledgement for the national resistance and it must be a direct statement," said Dhafer al-Ani, a member of the largest Sunni Arab bloc in parliament.

Another point that Sunni Arabs say needs addressing is how long American troops will continue to be in Iraq. They say nationalist insurgents are looking for a timetable for withdrawal. American commanders have said that a drawdown of two combat brigades is likely in September, but that any reduction would be based on progress in Iraq.

Mr. Khalilzad reiterated that intention.

"We will adjust our forces, but we'll do it based on conditions, and the condition is that Iraqis can take care of themselves," he said.

Mr. Maliki made an effort to address a third sore point for Sunni Arabs, what they call the overly tough criteria imposed by the country's de-Baathification committee. He said the committee would not exclude the vast majority of low- and midlevel ex-Baathists from participating in politics. Still, any change in the way the committee functions would require a change in the constitution and parliamentary approval, difficult to win.