BAGHDAD, April 23: Iraq's US administrator Paul Bremer said on Friday a policy to root out members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party had been unjustly applied.

He announced changes to its implementation that he said would allow thousands of teachers sacked for holding party cards to return to work and thousands more to receive pensions.

"The de-Baathification policy was and is sound," he said in a speech on US-funded Iraqiya television. "It does not need to be changed...but it has been poorly implemented." He said Iraqi complaints that the de-Baathification policy had been applied unevenly and unjustly were "legitimate".

An appeals process for those sacked would be speeded up. University professors who had not used their posts to intimidate others or commit crimes should also be allowed to go back to work promptly, Mr Bremer added. -Reuters