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Iraq draft law to ease curb on Baath party
An Iraqi draft law has been submitted to parliament to ease curbs on former members of Saddam Husseins Baath party joining the civil service and military, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday. The draft is one of the benchmarks set by the United States to foster reconciliation between warring majority Shiites and minority Sunni Arabs. Many Baath party members were Sunnis who now feel persecuted by Malikis Shiite-led government. Maliki told a news conference the draft was discussed by a committee of political parties and said he felt the parliament, which represents the political powers that participated in this discussion, will approve it. Lawmakers return to parliament on Tuesday after a month-long recess, but it was unclear when they would begin debating the draft debaathification law. On Aug. 26, Iraqs top five Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish leaders including Maliki agreed on the draft legislation. But the measure - as it has for many months - is likely to face opposition from within the ruling Shiite Alliance and the committee tasked with purging Baathists from the government. Iraqi officials have said the Aug. 26 deal on the draft law was a sign of progress ahead of reports to be presented to the US Congress next week. Posted by: Fred 2007-09-04 |
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