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| Iraq |
| Iraq urges vote ban for Sunni leader, parties |
| 2010-01-09 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Fifteen political parties, including that of a prominent Sunni leader, should be barred from Iraq's March 7 election because of alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party, a panel has found. The panel's recommendation, which was not final and whose legitimacy was immediately disputed, could hamper attempts to unify the fractious nation after years of sectarian violence as it heads toward the key parliamentary vote Washington hopes will bring stability before its troop withdrawal. The Justice and Accountability Commission, an independent body that aims in part to ensure the Baath party does not return to public life, said on Thursday that Saleh al-Mutlaq's National Dialogue Front should not be allowed to participate in the vote. The recommendation of the commission, which replaced Iraq's de-Baathification Committee, will be referred to the electoral commission, IHEC, for a decision, and Iraq's courts will have the final say. "The committee asked IHEC to ban 15 parties from participating, including the National Dialogue Front ... because its leaders and its founders come under the process of de-Baathification," said Ali al-Lami, a commission official. Mutlaq, who is popular among the Sunni minority that dominated Iraq under Saddam, condemned the edict as politically motivated and said it would be appealed in the federal courts. "It is an absurdity committed by the de-Baathification committee," Mutlaq told Reuters. "It proves again that there is no real basis for any democratic process in Iraq." |
| Posted by:Fred |