Sistani rejects proposal to allow Baathists to return to government

Edward Wong, International Herald Tribune

The most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq has rejected an American-backed proposal to allow thousands of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to return to government service, an aide to the cleric said on Monday. The rejection is certain to fuel sectarian hostility between Sunni Arabs and Shiites, since many Sunni Arabs say they were unfairly purged from the government in the clampdown on the Baath Party (...) The comments from the ayatollah's office came a day after Ahmad Chalabi, the former Pentagon favorite and head of the de-Baathification commission, met with the cleric in Najaf. Chalabi has opposed any serious attempt to roll back the purging of former Baathists from government...

continua / continued