Iraqi court dismisses de-Baathification cases

[LeighAnn]

Source: Reuters

An Iraqi appeals court on Monday rejected the disqualification of nine winning candidates from a March 7 election, removing another hurdle to the certification of the ballot results more than two months after the vote.

The decision effectively upholds a final vote tally that gave the Sunni-backed cross-sectarian alliance of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi a two-seat lead. His chances of forming a government are slim because of a tie-up between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's group and another Shi'ite-led coalition.

A three-judge panel accepted appeals from the nine candidates, eight of whom ran for Allawi's Iraqiya, against their disqualification by a special panel for alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's banned Baath party, party officials said.

"This is victory for the Iraqi judicial system and this is the right step that should have been taken from the beginning," said Maysoon al-Damluji, a spokeswoman for Iraqiya.


Read more: http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE64F11A20100517

[damntexdem]

1. Oh, good. That election stunk enough without ...

the outlawing of baths.

;-)

Of course, the delay in forming a government may have allowed Maliki to subvert the process and make the deals to form a government.

[protocol rv]

2. This is going to be very interesting

Allawi is said to be a CIA agent, so the CIA did manage to put their man in charge after all. There's a glitch emerging, Allawi's party, the Islamic Call, will likelly align with Moqtada al Sadr - or Allawi will have to throw the Sadrists a deal. I haven't been keeping up with Iraqi politics, but I imagine the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) is also expecting a cut of the action. Allawi is getting Sunni backing, including the Saddamites, and he has to be getting backing from either the Sadrists or SCIRI. But this means the Shiite factions will be at loggerheads. So the question would be: What is the reaction of the Shiite leader, the Grand Ayatollah al Sistani? Being old and cagey, I assume he'll back the CIA's man - for now. This will allow the Iraqis to drive the US imperial troops out of Iraq. Once most of them are out, the Grand Ayatollah, who is revered, and also happens to be Iranian born, will issue a fatwah ordering the complete removal of all foreigners.

This is a reasonable outcome, but the game is a very erratic one. My guess is that, once the Sadrists see Allawi unprotected, they will kill him. And if the Grand Ayatollah is as smart as he sounds, he'll name Moqtada al Sadr the new leader of the Iraqi Ummah. Which is going to please the Iranian regime, and will drive the Israelis crazy. :crazy: