Saddam followers reinstated
2008-01-12 22:25
Baghdad - In a major boost for reconciliation in deeply divided Iraq, Shi'ite and Sunni MPs unanimously passed a law on Saturday allowing ex-officials of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to return to public life.
The bill, seen by Washington as a key measure of reconciliation in Iraq, had been stalled by hardline Shi'ites until their demand that it also include measures to compensate victims of Saddam's regime was met.
The Justice and Accountability Law was passed unanimously by the 143 members of parliament present in the 275-member house.
It will allow thousands of middle-ranking Baath party members to apply for reinstatement to their jobs in the civil service and military, provided they were not convicted of crimes.
A smaller group of more senior members will not be allowed back into public life but, if they have no criminal records, will be retired on pension.
Tens of thousands of Baath officials were dismissed from state institutions after Saddam was ousted in 2003, leaving schools and government offices struggling for expertise and providing fertile ground for the anti-US insurgency.
The new law includes a clause that allows victims of the Baath regime to apply to special tribunals for monetary compensation and stresses that members of Saddam's security services and those involved in crimes will be punished.
It also sets up an Accountability and Justice Board which will be tasked with ensuring that the ideology, practices and power of the Baath party will not be allowed to return to the country.
Pending since March
Fallah Hassan Shanshal, MP for Sadr City and head of parliament's de-Baathification committee, said the law would now be sent to the three-member presidential council for final approval.
"The law was passed to make sure those who committed crimes against the Iraqi people be held accountable," Shanshal told AFP.
"At the same time, it will give higher-ranked party members who have not committed any crimes the right of retirement. The lower-ranked members can return to their normal life."
The bill had been pending since March.
Shi'ite MPs, especially those loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, had been reluctant to approve the bill, saying it is dangerous to allow former members of Saddam's regime to hold positions of leadership.
Hardline Baathists, however, remain suspicious of the new law, saying they prefer to remain in the shadows for fear it will serve as their death warrants.
"Baathists will not welcome this law because any citizen that has any kind of hatred will file a case against a Baathist and make a fake case that will send him to prison," said Mohammed Sabih, a former teacher who lost his job.
"This is like pouring fuel on the fire. It will not help reconciliation," Sabih told AFP by telephone from the Baghdad Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiyah soon after the law was approved.
'I am not convinced by this regime'
Abu Wahid, who lost his job as a civil servant because he was a Baath party member, said Baathists should be fully re-integrated into political life.
"I am not convinced by this regime. Will they allow Baathists to engage in political activities and participate in elections? The answer is no," he said.
"The new rulers came in the name of democracy against dictatorship. The Baathists are a group of Iraqi people, so why are they not giving them freedom?
"They complained that the Baathists had oppressed, so why are they oppressing us now?"
The new law replaces the de-Baathification law introduced by Paul Bremer, the US administrator in Iraq after the March 2003 invasion, which purged the civil service and army of Saddam's supporters.
His action turned thousands of Baathists, especially members of the armed forces, against the US military. Civilian employees also nurtured grievances, with many supporting the insurgency.
The Baath party, founded in Damascus in 1947, took power in Iraq in 1968. Baath, meaning "resurrection", officially promotes pan-Arab nationalism and socialism.