Baathists need not apply

Kirkuk's new city council will select a mayor Wednesday, making the city the second in Iraq to take this step toward democracy since the end of the war. But like its northern neighbor, Mosul, oil-rich Kirkuk faces a daunting challenge: to create a functioning society while excluding most of the people who once made the country tick - members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.

In a society where some 2 million people were registered Baathists, and where the vast majority of top- and mid-level jobs went to party members, "de-Baathification" - excluding Hussein loyalists from the political process while admitting those who may have been forced to work for the regime - is a major hurdle in Iraq's transition from dictatorship to democracy. Iraq's north is being looked to as the crucible of this process.

Ten days ago, L. Paul Bremer, the top civilian administrator in Iraq and head of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), announced that 15,000 to 30,000 die-hard Baath Party loyalists would be banned from holding senior official jobs. This reverses an earlier US policy that excluded a much smaller top group.

With 23 ministries to revive, the original ORHA thinking was that expediency was the main priority. So senior professors, high-ranking officials, and top technocrats - many with questionable backgrounds - all trundled back to work. But after a series of protests in the capital against the return of the likes of Baghdad University president Mohammed al-Rawi, Mr. Hussein's personal physician; and Ali Shnan al-Janabi, a Baath Party leader who was appointed by the US as Health Minister, ORHA's stance changed.

In Kirkuk, as elsewhere, many regular Iraqis who suffered years of discrimination at the hands of Baathists, welcomed the new guidelines. But some worry that those who deserve a second chance might be left out of the mix while others - the so-called "bad Baathists" - might slip in.

"Its not a perfect system...." admits Lt. Col. Todd McGill, an intelligence officer with the 4th Infantry Division, which is in charge of Kirkuk. "We realize people have grievances and want revenge. But we also know they are different levels of Baathists. We are looking for the criminals."

Over the weekend, 300 leaders of Kirkuk's four main ethnic groups - Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, and Assyrians - chose 24 members of the new 30-person interim council, with the US selecting six independent representatives. Two prominent Baathists were prohibited by the US last week from entering the election. On Monday, the council chose three assistant mayors. One, Irfan Kerkuklu, is assigned to remove Hussein loyalists from public office.

Wednesday the council will select the city's new mayor. But as an endless flow of Kirkuk residents wander into the 4th Infantry Division headquarters with scraps of paper listing names of suspected top Baathists - many of whom, admit the soldiers here, have extremely similar, even identical names to other, different people - some wonder if holding elections under these circumstances, and in a city already simmering with ethnic tensions, is a bit premature.

Page: 1 | 2