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| Iraq |
| Iraqi Panel Wants Baath Candidates Banned |
| 2005-12-02 |
| BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A commission in charge of removing senior members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party from government posts has recommended that nearly 90 people be banned from running in the Dec. 15 elections, an official said Thursday. The panel has provided the elections committee with the names 86 candidates planning to run the parliamentary ballot, said Ali al-Lami, the commission's executive director. A list with another 60 names will be sent in the next days, he said. Abdul-Hussein Hendawi, an official with the electoral commission, confirmed they have received lists of names and said the panel would make a decision within the next days. He said senior Baath officials and former members of Saddam's intelligence agency's would not be allowed to run. An estimated 1.5 million Iraqis belonged to the Baath party - formally known as the Baath Arab Socialist Party - at the time of Saddam's fall in April 2003. Many say they joined for practical reasons, arguing that membership was needed for career advancement, to secure places at prestigious colleges, or to get specialized medical care. However, analysts say those who advanced in the party were expected to spy on fellow Iraqis and join militias, which were accused of helping suppress Shiite and Kurdish revolts after Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War and participating in mass killings of Shiites and Kurds. Hendawi said about 7,500 people have applied to run the elections and some 100 were expected to be prevented from taking part. |
| Posted by:Steve White |