October 12, 2003	Sunday	Sha'aban 15, 1424

WASHINGTON, Oct 11: The United States has decided to enlist the support of former Saddam loyalists in Iraq where its forces are getting bogged down in an ever-expanding war of attrition.

Secretary of State Colin Powell told a select group of reporters in Washington on Friday evening that he believes officials of the former ruling Baath Party could play a constructive role in rebuilding Iraq.

The selection, he said, would be made on the basis of their past history and current behaviour.

“Judgments (will be made on) whether any of these people have sufficiently changed through their actions, the way they are currently behaving could make a contribution to society and in what way,” Mr Powell said.

The statement comes days after the US Central Command and the US-led Provisional Authority in Baghdad announced they are willing to include former officers of the Iraqi army into the new force they are setting up for Iraq.

US administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer, had dissolved the Iraqi army on May 15 and had launched a new policy called the “de-Baathification of Iraq”. Under this policy all pro-Saddam elements were to be purged out of the military, police and other government departments. He also had placed a strict prohibition on full members of the Baath Party joining the new government.

There were however exceptions built into the order and Mr Bremer formed a committee of Iraqis to review special cases.

“Paul Bremer is very pleased with what de-Baathification has done,” Mr Powell said. “It has removed all elements of a rotten regime and brought a sense of relief to the people.”

“De-Baathification was our policy and is our policy,” he added.

But apparently the policy of de-Baathification is making it difficult for Iraq’s American administrators to find local officials to run the country. So they have been forced to look among former Saddam loyalists for those who are willing to work with them.

Last week, the Iraqi Governing Council announced that it would further loosen the restrictions placed on May 15 so that a larger number of Baathist officials could join the new setup in Baghdad.

Recently, Mr. Bremer appointed some former members of Saddam Hussein’s government to the Iraqi Governing Council but only those who had already proven their loyalty to the American-led administration. One such woman, Akila al-Hashimi who served as an aid to Saddam’s deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz was murdered last month by Saddam’s supporters for changing her loyalties.

Desperate to broaden their support base in Iraq and to penetrate the groups attacking their troops, US officials also have contacted some members of Saddam Hussein’s intelligence service, known as the Mokhabrat. CIA officials told journalists in Washington that while courting former members of the Mokhabrat, “we are being very careful. We do not want people who have blood oozing from under their fingernails.”