Biden in Iraq for talks on 'blacklisted' election candidates

Baghdad - US Vice President Joe Biden will meet with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad Saturday to resolve the issue of the candidates banned from forthcoming parliamentary elections. Some 511 candidates and 10 groups have been banned from running in Iraq's parliamentary election, scheduled for March 7, because of their links to the outlawed Baath Party.

Biden, who arrived in Baghdad Friday night, will meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Head of Parliament Iyad al-Samarei.

The list of banned candidates was finalized by the Accountability and Justice Commission, an independent body which replaced the de-Baathification Committee.

President Talabani, who supports the inclusion of non-Saddamist Baathists in the Iraqi political process, cast doubt on the legality of the Commission and its decision.

"We asked in an official letter to judge Madhat al-Mahmoud (president of the Iraqi Supreme Court) that he rule on the legality of the integrity and accountability committee," he said earlier in the week.

The ruling Baath Party of former dictator Saddam Hussein was overthrown in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The Baath Party is now outlawed in Iraq, but Talabani says the ban only applies to Saddamist Baathists.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305342,biden-in-iraq-for-talks-on-blacklisted-election-candidates.html.