BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani on Monday sent to the cabinet a new de-Baathification law aimed at promoting national reconciliation, the premier's office said.
Maliki and Talabani forwarded the new draft law titled "Questioning and Justice" with a view to "rewriting the de-Baathfication law," said a statement.
"The aim is to ensure the application of justice and equality, and the preservation of rights in the context of national reconciliation," it added.
Under a controversial de-Baathification law, tens of thousands of members of Iraq's former ruling Baath party were stripped of their positions in government, universities and companies after the 2003 US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.
The law has been a major source of grievance for the minority Sunnis, who have waged a deadly insurgency against US troops and the Shiite-led, American-backed government in Baghdad.
If the reformed bill is passed, a number of political and parliamentary committees would be set up to oversee and implement the law "for the sake of a democratic and open Iraq divorced from sectarianism, racism, marginalisation, oppression and tyranny," Maliki's office said.
"This law will be a pillar in building national reconciliation and in starting the process of healing and rehabilitation," it added.
Outgoing US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters in a farewell media conference earlier Monday that Iraqi leaders were close to agreeing a new de-Baathification law aimed at promoting reconciliation.
At a summit in Riyadh, Arab foreign ministers also agreed to call for "reviewing the de-Baathification law in order to enhance the national reconciliation process in Iraq," according to one minister present.
03/26/2007 18:48 GMT