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Bremer Bans Baathists From Public Offices
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A U.S. official said Bremer’s ban could affect between 15,000 and 30,000 senior Baath members
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BAGHDAD,
May 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The new American
"administrator" of Iraq Paul Bremer on Friday, May 16,
banned members of the Iraqi Baath party from "positions of
authority and responsibility in Iraqi society," a decision that
is expected to trigger an outcry from international law and human
rights watchdogs.
The
ban was to apply to state institutions like universities and
hospitals, state-run firms and civil servants.
An
official from the U.S. Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian
Assistance (ORHA) said the move could affect between 15,000 and 30,000
senior Baath members.
Up
to 2,000 senior Baath Party members are still holding top jobs in
Iraqi ministries, the official said.
"We
recognize this is not going to be a very tidy process," the
official said, acknowledging there could be unwarranted accusations
and a long investigation period to check out allegations, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The
risk of doing this is a lot less than the risk of not doing it,"
he claimed.
"We've
got to keep our eyes on the big picture. Baathism is finished. It's
over."
He
said that an organized vetting process is to begin on Saturday, May
17, involving interviews and the examination of records.
Acknowledging
this would mean inefficiencies in the public sector for a while, the
American official said: "That is a price we are willing to pay to
be sure that we extirpate Baathism from Iraq's society."
In
his written "decree" Bremer allegedly attributed the ban to
guarantee that "representative government in Iraq is not
threatened."
The
American civil "administrator" also outlawed portraits of
ousted president Saddam Hussein and other known Baath leaders in
public spaces and government offices.
In
his first press conference since taking up the reins of post-war Iraq
this week, Bremer acknowledged Thursday, May 15, the U.S. dilemma when
he vowed to eradicate the party's remnants.
"We
have a very tough problem. We are trying very hard to work with Iraqis
to restore essential services. We are trying to work with the people
available in those ministries who are capable and technically
competent," he said.
"We
are determined that the Baathists and Saddamist will not come back to
Iraq," he said.
U.S.
officials have admitted that they are focusing on getting people back
in their jobs while background checks are carried out on civil
servants, a process that can take weeks.
The
ORHA official claimed loosely organized groups of Baathists were
believed to be responsible for some of the crime wave that has gripped
the nation since Saddam ouster.
"What
we see here is small pockets of Baathists organizing themselves into
criminal gangs," the official alleged.
"But
I don't think there is a risk the Baath party will rise from the
ashes."
Up
to 700,000 of Iraq's 26 million people were full Baath Party members
and many more were registered as supporters.
The
bouts of anarchy have fuelled criticism of the U.S. handling of its
military victory, with charges that the United States had no effective
plan to prepare for what would come after Saddam's fall.
Baghdad,
a city of five million, has descended into lawlessness and chaos since
the U.S. forces rolled into the capital on April 9 and declared the
fall on the Iraqi regime.
Violent
crime is on the rise, guns are widely available and many shopkeepers
are afraid to re-open for business.
Another
Baathist Captured
U.S.-led
forces have captured Adel Abdullah Mahdi al-Duri al-Tikriti, another
Iraqi official on the 55 most-wanted list drawn up by Washington, U.S.
Central Command said Friday.
It
said the former Baath party chairman of Dhi Qar governorate in
southern Iraq was captured Thursday during a raid by U.S. soldiers of
a regime safe house in Al-Dawr, north of Baghdad.
"The
raid resulted in the capture of 262 Iraqis," including Adel
al-Tikriti, the statement said.
The
captured official had been wrongly identified by residents of the area
on Thursday as Abdel Baqi al-Karim Abdullah, Baath party leader of
northeastern Diyala province.
The
raid took place near Tikrit, stronghold and hometown of Saddam.
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