Baathists encouraged to seek seats

U.S. officials previously sought the party's elimination from government.
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In a reversal of policy, U.S. officials in Iraq are encouraging some former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to run in Thursday's election, saying it's one way to bring marginalized Sunni Muslims into the new government.
"I think those [Baathists] who do not have blood on their hands and were not very serious in the government structure, should be integrated into the political process," said Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, in an interview with Knight Ridder on Sunday. "Ultimately, all wars must come to an end."
Until now, the United States has led calls for purging Baathists from the government. L. Paul Bremer, the former administrator of Iraq's government until the hand over of power in June 2004, created a de-Baathification committee in 2003.
The committee pushed upper-level Baathists, who were mostly minority Sunni Muslims, out of their jobs. It is widely acknowledged that thrusting a large segment of the population into unemployment fueled the mostly Sunni insurgency.
Khalilzad said that some members of the committee had abused their authority. "The laws have to be followed, but they have to be followed fairly," he said.
Iraqis will vote Thursday to elect 275 representatives to a four-year term in their first permanent National Assembly.
Shiites, who are in the majority, won the majority of seats in January for Iraq's interim parliament.
Hope for reconciliation
U.S. and Iraqi leaders say Thursday's election is the best hope to move the divided country toward reconciliation. The inclusion of Sunnis in a coalition government might weaken the insurgency, allowing U.S. troops to leave.
More than a quarter of Iraqis were members of Saddam's Baath Party, which largely ruled Iraq during his 24-year regime. Bureaucrats, soldiers and appointees often had to join the party to get good jobs.
Sunni officials have said that not every Baathist was a criminal and that the new Shiite-dominated government excludes Sunnis from the political process on the basis of their sect.
Saleh Mutlaq, a National Assembly candidate and a Baathist during Saddam's regime, said U.S. officials encouraged a diverse pool of candidates.
Mutlaq said that de-Baathification was a mass punishment and that the new government would benefit from Sunni participation because Sunnis know how to run a bureaucracy.
Inciting anger
The U.S. interest in Sunni participation has angered some. In mosques, Shiite clerics have told their followers that the United States is abandoning them. And members of the de-Baathification committee said democracy cannot flourish if U.S. officials encourage Iraqis to dispose of laws put in place under Bremer.
America "should respect our law," said Ali al-Lami, the head of the de-Baathification committee.
Al-Lami said his group found that 207 of the more than 7,000 candidates in the election were Baathists who were ineligible for work in the government because of their past positions.