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Iraq Eases Curb on Ex-Officials of Baath Party
The Iraqi Parliament passed a bill on Saturday to allow some former officials from Saddam Husseins party to apply for government positions, in the first of the so-called political benchmark measures to pass after months of American pressure for progress. The measure, which is expected to be approved to become law by the presidential council, was described by its backers as opening the door for the reinstatement of thousands of low-level Baath Party members barred from office after the 2003 American invasion. The Bush administration had urged the Iraqi government to pass such a measure to help mend the deep rifts between Sunni Arabs who used to control the government under Mr. Hussein and the Shiites who now dominate politics here. It was unclear on Saturday how far the legislation would go toward soothing Sunni Arabs, Many Sunni Arabs have strongly denounced the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for shutting them out. In the hours after the vote, serious disagreements emerged about how much the law would do, and some political leaders said it would actually force many former Baathists out of current government jobs and into retirement. President Bush, traveling in Kuwait and Bahrain on Saturday, praised the vote, calling it an important step toward reconciliation. And he said that to consolidate progress in the country in the past year, he was prepared to slow or even halt further American troop reductions in Iraq beyond those planned through the summer, setting the stage for renewed political debate over the war. Posted by: Fred 2008-01-13 |
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