Iraq: Ayad Allawi to form new alliance;objects to 'de-baathification'

azzaman: Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi would like to form an alliance of liberal Iraqi groups to contest the forthcoming elections.

In an interview, he said, he was totally against policies that prevent members of former leader Saddam Hussein's Baath party from assuming public posts.

Allawi, Iraq's first prime minister after Saddam Hussein overthrow in 2003, his alliance will be "the broadest" in the country.

"The alliance will include national, liberal and Islamic forces from all sectors and parts of Iraq.

"We are going to hold a national unity conference in Baghdad to announce the formation of the broadest alliance with the aim of taking part in the forthcoming elections scheduled for December," Allawi said.

The former premier did not hide his displeasure with certain aspect of the draft constitution scheduled for referendum on October 15.

"Distancing any group of which the Iraqi people are made up will lead to catastrophic consequences," he said.

He specifically criticized attempts to isolate "any section of the society" - a reference to Sunni Arabs who have stopped short of endorsing the draft and are working for its defeat in the referendum.

Allawi lashed out at the so called policy of de-baathification under which members of the former ruling Baath party have lost their jobs in the government.

He called for an immediate halt for such policies, urging the authorities to let former Baathists actively take part in the country's new era.

"Fighting former Baath party members should not be allowed. We need to distinguish between those with blood on their hands and those who had done no harm," he said.

The treatment of Baath party members and the kind of language used to refer to the party itself is an issue separating Arab Sunnis from the ruling Shiite-Kurdish coalition. Link