BAGHDAD, May 16: The new US boss in Iraq, Paul Bremer, on Friday banned top members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party from government jobs as he moved swiftly to make his mark in Baghdad after taking the reins this week.

He issued a sweeping decree barring top members of the Baath party from taking positions in hospitals, universities and government administrations.

“The risk of doing this is a lot less than the risk of not doing it,” said a senior official from Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.

The official said the ban on the party’s top four ranks could affect between 15,000 and 30,000 people, although many of them are believed to have disappeared and are not seeking their old jobs back.

Paul Bremer’s decree comes amid growing fear among Iraqis that the regime could claw its way back to power as state-run facilities reopen and the US-led coalition tries to get day-to-day life in Iraq back to normal.

“We recognize this is not going to be a very tidy process,” the official said. “We’ve got to keep our eyes on the big picture. Baathism is finished. It’s over.”

Mr Bremer on Thursday pledged to wipe out any remnants of President Saddam’s rule in his first press conference since taking over the US administration of the country on Monday amid criticism of the speed of the rebuilding process.

Mr Bremer was scheduled also to meet Iraqi political leaders later to cap a busy day that seemed designed to answer charges that the US administration here has been too slow in getting the war-battered nation back on its feet.

He was to join the top British envoy in Iraq, John Sawers, for talks on Friday evening with leading political groups on a US-appointed council which is preparing the way for the formation of a post-Saddam government.

Officials said they would likely grill Mr Bremer over a controversial US proposal to bring Iraq’s oil revenues under the control of the coalition for at least one year.

“We will ask for clarifications about the goal of this resolution and its impact on any independent Iraqi government,” said Hoshyar Zebari, the external relations official for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

“It’s a vital issue,” he said.

IRAQI OFFICIAL HELD: US-led coalition forces have captured Adel Abdullah Mahdi al-Duri al-Tikriti, another Iraqi official on the 55 most-wanted list, the Central Command said in on Friday.—AFP\Reuters