| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraq reinstates 59 election candidates |
| 2010-01-26 |
| BAGHDAD - Iraq has reinstated 59 election candidates among more than 500 who had been blacklisted because of their alleged links to executed dictator Saddam Hussein, an official said on Monday. Ali al-Allami, a senior official from an integrity and accountability committee, said 150 people had appealed for their names to be removed from the controversial list of candidates excluded from the March 7 poll. The blacklist includes Iraqis from the minority Sunni Arab community as well as dominant Shiites but analysts say the barring of those with links to Saddam could exclude Sunnis from the political arena and spark new sectarian tensions. “After we got new information, we decided to accept the requests of 59 candidates,' Allami told AFP, referring to errors in applicants' names, dates of birth or other personal details that have since been corrected. “We received a total of 150 requests,' he added, without specifying the status of the 91 appeals that remain active. According to Allami, 458 people are currently barred from contesting the election. The move also threatens to damage the ballot by creating a campaign battleground where past quarrels will be exposed rather than healed under a much vaunted but stumbling national reconciliation process. The excluded candidates are accused of membership or other links to Saddam's outlawed Baath party, feared Fedayeen (Men of Sacrifice) militia or Mukhabarat intelligence agency. The integrity and accountability committee whose probe has inflamed the political climate less than six weeks from polling day is headed by Shiite politician Ahmed Chalabi, who was deputy prime minister after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam. The election row sparked a flurry of diplomatic activity in the past week, including a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden at the weekend who said he was “confident' that Iraq's leaders would resolve the dispute. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 I'm betting this was the plan all along. Ban 500, bring a few back, look like you're willing to compromise, etc, etc, etc. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-01-26 07:49 |
| #1 Let's see the biden plan in action. Forget de-baaathification now? |
| Posted by: newc 2010-01-26 01:45 |