Bagdad Iraq- Saddam Hussien Back in Power!

Trash Dispatch:
Bagdad Iraq- Saddam Hussien Back in Power!

Saddam Hussien returns to power as Iraq’s parliament votes to reinstate former Baath Party officials in a move to reunite the divided country.

—(reuters) Iraq’s parliament voted on Saturday to let thousands of members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party return to government jobs, winning praise from Washington for achieving a benchmark step toward reconciling warring sects.

The law is the first of a series of measures that Washington has long been pressing the Shi’ite Islamist-led government to pass in an effort to draw the minority Sunni Arab community that held sway under Saddam closer into the political process.

“This law preserves the rights of the Iraqi people after the crimes committed by the Baath Party while also benefiting the innocent members of the party. This law provides a balance,” Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

Washington had introduced “de-Baathification” when it administered Iraq in 2003-04, but later acknowledged that the measures went too far and asked Iraqi leaders to ease them. [link]

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B by hardline Shiites 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.

(AP) BAGHDAD - Iraq’s parliament voted Saturday to allow some former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party to reclaim government jobs and said others could receive pensions but could not return to work. President Bush said the legislation was “an important step toward reconciliation.”

The U.S. initially promoted de-Baathification but later claimed that Iraqi authorities went beyond even what the Americans had contemplated to keep Saddam’s supporters out of important jobs.

With the Sunni insurgency raging and political leaders making little progress in reconciling Iraq’s Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish communities, the Americans switched positions and urged the dismantling of de-Baathification laws.

Later, enacting and implementing legislation reinstating the fired Baath supporters became one of 18 so-called benchmark issues the U.S. sought as measures for progress in national reconciliation. [link]

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BAGHDAD (AFP) - In a major boost for reconciliation in deeply divided Iraq, Shiite 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 Shiites 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. [link]