While United States President George W. Bush said that this is a step towards hope in Iraq, former Baath party members are skeptical about the law. They say they have fears that it could be a ploy to lure them and hunt them down.
On Saturday, Iraq’s parliament had passed a law that allows some of the former Baath members whom are from the once-dominant Sunni Arab minority of the country to reclaim government jobs or receive pensions. This measure was sought out by the United States to promote national reconciliation.
“This law could be a government decoy to spot high-ranking Baathists in hiding when applying for jogs and get rid of them by gunmen,” according to Shihab Hamad, who is a Sunni that worked as a headmaster of a secondary school.
He adds: “My life is more precious than any job.”
Falah Shanshal, a Shia lawmaker said: “There are some people who might start such rumors in order to keep the situation tense.”
The bill which is called the Accountability and Justice law would let thousands of former Baathists not involved in past crimes to fill posts in the Shia-dominated government. This law was supposed to replace the de-Baathification process.
Many of those former party members along with officers in the former Iraqi military had gone into hiding or left the country to escape retaliation killings.
Abu Yassin, who worked at the Education ministry said: “This law is meaningless to me because I cannot work again in a ministry controlled by Shiite parties and militias, and there is no compensation for the past years I have spent without a job.”
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