*EPF403 04/22/2004
White House Report, April 22: Iraq, U.N.
(U.S. reviews hiring of former Iraqi Baath officials, U.S. encourages international participation in Iraq nation-building efforts) (410)

U.S. CONSIDERS HIRING FORMER IRAQI BAATH PARTY MEMBERS

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters on Air Force One en route to Maine April 22 that the United States and the Coalition Provisional Authority are considering a move to hire former Iraqi Baath party members to assist coalition efforts in Iraq.

"We are reviewing how the policies are being implemented and looking at how we can better balance the need for expertise and experience that some Iraqis have with the need for justice," McClellan said.

According to news reports, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, proposed the policy shift to broaden the strategy to entice the Sunni minority back into the political fold and weaken support for insurgency in the volatile "Sunni triangle."

Army General John Abizaid, head of Central Command, told reporters that the coalition is already bringing back former senior military officers to provide leadership to the new Iraqi army, with more than half a dozen generals from Saddam Hussein's military appointed to top jobs.

"You want to make sure that people are being held accountable and being brought to justice," McClellan said. "But you also have to balance that and look at the need to have expertise in the different sectors within Iraq."

U.S. ENCOURAGES GREATER PARTICIPATION IN IRAQ

The White House spokesman told reporters that the United States welcomes a new U.N. Security Council resolution that could help encourage more countries to participate in international efforts in Iraq after sovereignty is transferred to the Iraqi people.

According to news reports, Malaysia and Pakistan announced April 22 that they would consider sending troops to Iraq to protect U.N. staff following the June 30 transfer of sovereignty.

"The United Nations, we believe, should be playing a vital role in the political process, and they have been recently," McClellan said. "They've been playing a vital role in helping [Bremer] move forward on the transfer of sovereignty to a representative interim government, and they have also had a mission there working to move forward on the electoral process that is set to begin next January."

"We appreciate all the strong statements of resolve from coalition partners and we welcome other countries coming in and participating in the future," the spokesman said.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Return to Public File Main Page

Return to Public Table of Contents