Iraq to Ease Restraints on Baath Party Members

03/26/2007

By ALISSA J. RUBIN
NY Times
Published: March 26, 2007


BAGHDAD, March 26 — The American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, offered a sober assessment of the outlook for the country in the near future at his final news conference on Monday.

Had he waited a few hours he might have sounded slightly more hopeful.

Late Monday, the office of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki announced that he and President Jalal Talabani would introduce a modification of the law that sharply restricts former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party from holding government jobs or receiving government pensions.

Mr. Khalilzad had emphasized repeatedly during the news conference that the Iraqi government’s slowness to change the draconian de-Baathification laws had contributed to American skepticism about Iraq’s commitment to find a political solution to the sectarian strife troubling the country.

The lack of movement had also hampered efforts at reconciliation between the Sunnis and Shiites, he said, since the Sunnis have had little faith that the Shiite government would do anything concrete to help them.

The de-Baathification laws disproportionately affected Sunnis, who dominated the Hussein government.

The proposal from the prime minister and the president follows meetings held between Mr. Maliki and Sunni insurgent leaders and appears to be an effort to back up his outreach with action. Under the proposal, all Baathists would be able to collect their pensions.

In addition, thousands more former Baathists would be allowed to their government jobs than under the current law. Former Baathists who return to government work would have to sign a pledge to avoid making political statements about the current government.

Most important of all, the law would a three-month time limit for Iraqi citizens who have complaints against former Baathists to bring a claim. Then the courts would have six months to rule on it. Any claims brought subsequently would be thrown out.

The goal of the new law is to take a step toward reconciling Sunnis and Shiites, said Dr. Sadiq al-Raqadi, a political adviser to Mr. Maliki.

“The reason for the new law is that the government wants to finish these cases; they want to close the files of the Baathists,” he said. “This is an effort to find a solution for the problem of the Baathists.”

The Iraqi government’s move, one of several aspects of reconciliation, comes not a moment too soon in Mr. Khalilzad’s view. “To sustain U.S. support, things have to move at a certain pace,” said Mr. Khalilzad. And, time is running out, he said.

The United States House of Representatives voted last week to begin withdrawing troops by the fall of 2008, and the Senate plans to consider a less restrictive plan, though it is unclear what the final outcome of the legislative effort will be.

Mr. Khalilzad served as ambassador to Iraq for 21 months, during the drafting of the country’s constitution as well as the second nationwide election and a referendum approving the constitution. If, as expected, the United States Senate approves his nomination, he will become the American ambassador to the United Nations. He will be replaced by Ryan Crocker, a career diplomat, who is currently the ambassador to Pakistan.

The Iraqi government’s move to modify the de-Baathification law, if it goes through, would be a victory for Mr. Khalilzad who pushed hard to bring Sunnis back into the government.

Recently, American diplomats and military officials along with Iraqi government officials, including Mr. Maliki, have reached out to Sunni militants in an effort to woo those elements of the insurgency whom Mr. Khalilzad described as “reconcilable insurgents” and isolate the most violent elements.

“There is a real struggle going on in the Sunni Arab part of Iraq between those of Al Qaeda and the other more patriotic groups who want a successful Iraq, an Iraq in which everyone’s rights is respected,” Mr. Khalilzad said. Most of these “patriotic groups” were linked to Mr. Hussein’s former regime rather than to the Sunni religious militants with ties to Al Qaeda.

Mr. Khalilzad underscored that there would be no discussions with individuals linked to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the insurgent group that claims ties to the Al Qaeda organization and has been associated with some of the most destructive attacks in Iraq.

Mr. Khalilzad noted that in the six weeks since the American-backed security plan began, attacks had dropped 25 percent. Baghdad seemed relatively quiet on Monday. There were several improvised explosive devices that killed one Iraqi civilian and one policeman. Fifteen unidentified bodies were found.

National Public Radio on Monday reported an episode on Saturday in which gunmen opened fire on children playing soccer in Baghdad, followed by a battle between Sunni and Shiite neighbors. The details could not be verified on Monday.

In Hilla, south of Baghdad, three Sunni mosques were attacked in apparent retribution for an attack on a Shiite mosque three days earlier. In Iskandariya, American and Iraqi forces were attacked by insurgents hiding in a mosque who used rocket propelled grenades as well as guns. The Iraqi soldiers entered the mosque and, in the course of fighting, injured two apparent insurgents and killed one. The American military also announced it had captured the leaders of a car bomb ring in Baghdad responsible for the deaths of more than 900 Iraqis.

Two suicide truck bombs exploded near Ramadi, but initial reports indicated they had killed only the drivers.