IraqÂ’s cabinet has approved a redraft of a law that would allow lower ranking members of ousted dictator Saddam HusseinÂ’s Baath party to return to public office, a government official said.
The bill will set up an independent Justice and Accountability Commission that will recognise two categories of Baathists - those in the lower ranks who committed no crimes and senior leaders who implemented the oppressive policies of the party. But lower ranked members would be allowed back into public life and into the military. Tens of thousands of Baath party members were dismissed from state institutions after Saddam was toppled by the US-led invasion in March 2003, leaving schools and government offices struggling for expertise.
Employment and political restrictions: “The bill prevents senior party members from being employed or practising any political job,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on national television late on Thursday.“We do not want those who changed their faces to infiltrate the government services,” he said. |