December 9, 2007

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Hardline Baathists, the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime, prefer to remain in the shadows in Baghdad's Sunni neighbourhoods, fearing that a new law to bring them back into public life will instead serve as their death warrants.

Without work, isolated and believing themselves to be targets of the Shiite-dominated government, the Sunni former elite have no faith in the new Justice and Accountability Law now before the parliament.

The bill aims partly to reverse the purge of tens of thousands of members of Saddam's Baath party from government jobs after he was ousted in the US-led invasion of 2003.

Under the proposed law, senior party leaders who implemented the oppressive policies of the regime would remain banned from holding public jobs but middle-ranking officials not implicated in any crimes would be reintegrated into the civil service.

"The law in parliament is worse for us," said a professor who would only give his name as Dawood, fearing reprisals from Shiite militias.

"It is against the Baathists. It is a punishment to Baathists," Dawood told AFP in an interview at his house deep inside Baghdad's Sunni stronghold of Adhamiyah, now marked by broken drainage pipes, piles of stinking rubbish and gun-toting Sunni militias.

He lost his job in a leading educational institution on May 15, 2003 -- two weeks after US President George W. Bush declared an end to the Iraq conflict and Paul Bremer took over as US administrator in Iraq.

Bremer's de-Baathification law turned thousands of Baathists, especially members of armed forces, against the US military. Civilian employees also nurtured grievances, with many supporting the insurgency.

Baath, meaning "resurrection," promotes pan-Arab nationalism and socialism.

The party, officially inaugurated in 1947 in Damascus, took power in Iraq in 1968.

Faced with ineffective government, an inefficient Iraqi military, mounting US casualties and a brutal sectarian conflict between Shiites and Sunnis, Washington has now changed tack -- it wants to bring Baathists who have no criminal records back into public life.

The passing of the Justice and Accountability Law is one of 18 benchmarks Washington has set for measuring progress in political reconciliation in Iraq.

The bill has generated heated debate in parliament, once again exposing the sharp sectarian divides bedevilling political reconciliation.

The Shiite-led government claims that it has already taken back hundreds of former Baathists into public service despite the pending new law.

But middle-ranking Baathists interviewed by AFP in a small house in Adhamiyah do not believe that the bill will help them in any way.

"They cut my life source suddenly. I was not a criminal. I had to flee to Syria in 2004 because militias started targeting us. How do we trust that the new leaders will enforce the law justly?" asked Dawood, as he slipped prayer beads through his fingers.

"The very name of the law is against us. It is called Justice and Accountability. Who are we accountable to and why?" asked Abu Abdallah, who spent 30 years as a government employee under the previous regime.

"If you want to promote reconciliation, then don't ask questions. Trust us and take us back," said Abdallah, a bald and tired-looking 60-year-old, dressed in a brown leather jacket to protect himself from the winter chill.

"I too lost my job. The family is surviving somehow, but four months ago my son was detained by Iraqi troops without any reason. For what and why?" he asked, sitting beside Dawood.

"They think they can change us by doing this. Baath is an ideology. It's in the head. It can't be changed."

Although the Baath party was outlawed in Iraq after the regime change, its supporters still operate clandestinely in several Sunni strongholds, including Adhamiyah.

This week they distributed leaflets in the neighbourhood promoting the party under the leadership of Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, Saddam's deputy and the most high-ranking former regime official still on the run.

"We defend jihad and the mujahedeen to protect our honour from occupiers and Safavids," one leaflet said, referring to the US and Iranians respectively.

Baathists gathered in the Adhamiyah house said the new law would be a death sentence for them.

"Once I return to duty I become a known face and an easy target for militias," said Abu Ali, 54, giving a fictitious name.

"Or somebody can file a false case against me and send me to jail. There is no justice in this Justice and Accountability Law," the former communication expert said.

"The fact also is, as my friend said, 'Baath is an ideology. It can't be changed'."