PM Abadi says Baath party 'stained' with Iraqi blood
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi insisted he will not reconcile with the Baath party which held power in Iraq for decades until 2003, saying that its hands are stained with blood.
3 min read
Abadi says no to reconiliation with Baath [Anadolu]
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said he will not reconcile with former President Saddam Hussein's Baath party, describing it as a conspiratorial party.
He has also promised to release innocent women and male prisoners who have been held in detention for a long time.
During a speech at an event marking international women's day Abadi said:
"The Baath party is a conspiratory party and there is no point talking to them because the party does not believe in me or democracy." He stressed there would be no reconciliation with the Baathists whose hands are stained with the blood of the Iraqis.
He explained that many Baathists that were forced to join the party under the old regime then ended their relations with the party after the regime was toppled. They then went on to help build the country. These people are not the targets of the Accountability and Justice Law.
"The Baathists that need to be held accountable are the ones who still believe in Baathist ideology and who joined the Islamic state [IS] when it entered Nineveh," Abadi explained. He also said they have tried to hold secret meetings in Baghdad and southern provinces to disturb the peace, and could not be reconciled with because they are continuing with their same old tactics.
Successive Iraqi governments after the US invasion have been criticized for double standards because they are allied to the Syrian Baath party but consider the Iraqi Baath party their enemy, even though the ideology of the two branches of the party are the same. This has made many observers believe this double standard is for sectarian reasons.
Abadi said he is currently working to release innocent female and male prisoners who have been detained for a long time, except for women that have taken part in terrorist attacks. He argued: "Women now stand next to men on the battlefield in the fight against IS."
Member of the State of Law Coalition Abbas al-Bayati said: "The coalition has fundamental issues about the Accountability and Justice Law and the government must not accept it."
Bayati told al-Araby al-Jadeed: "Amending the new law will not be easy and will require a lot time. All the political blocs have reservations and objections to the law." He thought it unlikely the law would pass.
The Alliance of Sunni Forces has said the National Guard Law and the Accountability and Justice Law go against political agreements and the current form of the laws are a blow to national reconciliation.
The Iraqis are paying the price for distrust between the political blocs that are fighting for personal and partisan interests. Politicians are not taking into account the future of the Iraqis who are being killed, displaced, kidnapped and thrown into prison. Observers doubt the government will be able to set up the foundations of national reconciliation and overcome the interests of other parties.
This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.
He has also promised to release innocent women and male prisoners who have been held in detention for a long time.
During a speech at an event marking international women's day Abadi said:
"The Baath party is a conspiratory party and there is no point talking to them because the party does not believe in me or democracy." He stressed there would be no reconciliation with the Baathists whose hands are stained with the blood of the Iraqis.
He explained that many Baathists that were forced to join the party under the old regime then ended their relations with the party after the regime was toppled. They then went on to help build the country. These people are not the targets of the Accountability and Justice Law.
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The Iraqis are paying the price for distrust between the political blocs that are fighting for personal and partisan interests. |
"The Baathists that need to be held accountable are the ones who still believe in Baathist ideology and who joined the Islamic state [IS] when it entered Nineveh," Abadi explained. He also said they have tried to hold secret meetings in Baghdad and southern provinces to disturb the peace, and could not be reconciled with because they are continuing with their same old tactics.
Successive Iraqi governments after the US invasion have been criticized for double standards because they are allied to the Syrian Baath party but consider the Iraqi Baath party their enemy, even though the ideology of the two branches of the party are the same. This has made many observers believe this double standard is for sectarian reasons.
Abadi said he is currently working to release innocent female and male prisoners who have been detained for a long time, except for women that have taken part in terrorist attacks. He argued: "Women now stand next to men on the battlefield in the fight against IS."
Member of the State of Law Coalition Abbas al-Bayati said: "The coalition has fundamental issues about the Accountability and Justice Law and the government must not accept it."
Bayati told al-Araby al-Jadeed: "Amending the new law will not be easy and will require a lot time. All the political blocs have reservations and objections to the law." He thought it unlikely the law would pass.
The Alliance of Sunni Forces has said the National Guard Law and the Accountability and Justice Law go against political agreements and the current form of the laws are a blow to national reconciliation.
The Iraqis are paying the price for distrust between the political blocs that are fighting for personal and partisan interests. Politicians are not taking into account the future of the Iraqis who are being killed, displaced, kidnapped and thrown into prison. Observers doubt the government will be able to set up the foundations of national reconciliation and overcome the interests of other parties.
This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.
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