Western administrators may ban from public office between 15,000 and 30,000 Saddam Hussein loyalists of Iraq's dissolved Baath Party, senior civil officials said today.
Two senior officials of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) - which is running Iraq until an Iraqi interim authority takes over - told reporters they recognised the risks of such a vetting process in a society where up to 700,000 people held membership of the political party.
"We have to recognise that de-Baathification will necessarily entail some inefficiency in the running of government," one senior official said.
"We understand that is a price we are willing to pay to be sure that we extirpate Baathism from Iraq's society," he said. Last Sunday the US commander of forces in Iraq, General Tommy Franks, announced the Baath Party was dissolved and called on Iraqis to surrender all party documents and possessions.
Some senior Baathists may retain key posts and only be ousted later as evidence of their party affiliation emerged, Pentagon-appointed administrators said.
Full members in the top four ranks of the Baath Party will be subjected to a vetting process that involves direct interviews, testimony from other Iraqis and the use of public and official records.