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| Iraq |
| Iraq allows blacklisted election candidates to run |
| 2010-02-04 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Around 500 candidates barred from Iraq's March 7 general election for alleged links to executed dictator Saddam Hussein were told Wednesday they can stand after all, paving the way towards a smooth vote. The blacklist sparked tensions between the country's Shiite majority and its Sunni Arab former elite, alarming the White House and the United Nations who both expressed concerns about the election's credibility in recent weeks. However, a senior election official told AFP the barred candidates, who include people accused of membership of Saddam's outlawed Baath party, can take part in the vote, subject to a post-ballot appeals procedure. "The appeals panel decided to allow the banned candidates to participate in the next election and decided to postpone looking into the case until after the election," Hamdiya al-Husseini, a member of the Independent High Electoral Commission, said. "The appeal court will look at their file after the election," and if they find them to have links to Saddam's outlawed Baath party, "they will be eliminated," she said. The blacklist was compiled last month by The Justice and Accountability Commission, an integrity and accountability committee responsible for ensuring that individuals from the former regime do not take part. It is headed by Ali al-Allami, an ally of Ahmed Chalabi, a key U.S. ally when he spearheaded the case for war against Saddam, which was launched on the grounds that the dictator had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. "I cannot do anything but accept the decision," Allami told AFP following Husseini's comments. Chalabi, who has close ties to Iran, was appointed deputy prime minister after the invasion but intelligence he provided in support of those claims in the run-up to war later turned out to be flawed and he subsequently fell out of favor with Washington. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Aw, poor Tom Ricks will be so disappointed. He won't be able to continue telling people about how the surge "failed" to result in an improved Iraqi political situation, and that Iraq is just one match stick away from the explosion of all out civil war. |
| Posted by: American Delight 2010-02-04 07:36 |