Saturday, January 12, 2008

Iraqi Lawmakers Pass Key Benchmark De-Baathification Law

Nancy? Harry? Are you listening?

Iraq's parliament adopted legislation Saturday on the reinstatement of thousands of former Baath party supporters to government jobs, a key benchmark sought by the United States as a step toward national reconciliation.

The bill was approved by a unanimous show of hands on each of the law's 30 clauses. Titled the Accountability and Justice law, it seeks to relax restrictions on the rights of members of Saddam Hussein's now-dissolved Baath party to fill government posts.

It is also designed to reinstate thousands of Baathists in government jobs from which they had been dismissed because of their ties to the party.

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