Iraqi draft law would reinstate most ex-Baathists

Prewar members of Saddam's Baath party. Extensive 'De-Baathification' was ordered by Rumsfeld over the objections of Paul Bremer. Over l00,000 political and military members were disenfranchised overnight, swelling the ranks of the Sunni insurgency.

BAGHDAD, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Thousands of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, purged after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, could return to public life under proposals being presented to parliament, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The move comes after Saddam was sentenced on Sunday to hang for crimes against humanity.

Ali Faysal al-Lami, executive director of the De-Baathification Committee set up by the United States after Saddam's 2003 overthrow, said the committee will recommend allowing most former Baath party officals to return to work.

The proposals to be put to parliament will reduce the number of senior ex-Baathists excluded from public life from 30,000 to just 1,500 senior officials, he said. "We are going to deliver these proposals to parliament in a few days," Lami told Reuters.

The move addresses long-standing demands of Saddam's fellow minority Sunni Arabs.

Concerned at Sunni Arab marginalisation, Washington has been pressing Iraq's Shi'ite-led government to reform the De-Baathification Committee and transform it into what U.S. officials call "an accountability and reconciliation programme".

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

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