BAGHDAD, Feb 2 (Reuters) - An Iraqi law that would give thousands of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party their old jobs back would be difficult to amend, even though it faces strong objections, one of its authors said on Saturday. Iraq's Shi'ite-led government passed the "Accountability and Justice Law" last month, winning praise from Washington for helping to promote reconciliation between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs who were dominant under Saddam Hussein. But Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, has said the three-member Presidency Council is unlikely to sign off on the law because it would force out many people given jobs after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion so ex-Baathists could return. Ahmad Chalabi, a former Iraqi deputy prime minister and head of the committee which drew up the law, said it was probably too late to change the legislation. "I believe it would be difficult and time-consuming to get amendments passed on this law in the parliament," Chalabi, a secular Shi'ite, told a news conference. "I believe that people who voted for this law who are now objecting to it should have considered this before they voted." Hashemi told Reuters on Thursday the Presidency Council was unlikely to ratify the law in its present form because "the spirit of revenge" was clear in many of its articles. He said the other members of the council -- President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Shi'ite Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi -- would also not sign off on it. The council must sign off on all laws passed by parliament, otherwise they are sent back to the legislature. Many ex-Baathists have already rejoined the military and the civil service in the absence of the law and there have been suggestions they could be purged a second time. Washington introduced "de-Baathification" under U.S. administrators in Iraq after the invasion to topple Saddam but later acknowledged the measures went too far. It asked Iraqi lawmakers to ease some of them so that middle and low-ranking Baathists could return to work. It is now seen as a benchmark in drawing Sunni Arabs into the political process and away from the insurgency and sectarian bloodshed that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis. Chalabi said the law did not allow for a "blanket" return of Baathists. (Writing by Paul Tait; Editing by Michael Winfrey)
A police officer stands guard during search operations in Kerbala, 110 km (70 miles) south of Baghdad, January 30, 2008. Two suspected insurgents were arrested and weapons confiscated during a raid ...
