Saddam Hussein’s henchmen must be brought back into government as part of an urgent process of national reconciliation if Iraq hopes to defeat the extremist Sunni militants who have captured large areas of the country’s north, a former prime minister said yesterday.
The Baath party faithful were, by and large, professionals “who have the respect of the Iraqi people”, Ayad Allawi told The Times. They had to be brought back into the fold or Iraq would be dismantled along sectarian lines, he said. Without reconciliation, US airstrikes would backfire and the militants of Isis (Islamic State) would flourish.
His call came after Haider al-Abadi, the country’s new prime minister, was asked to build an “inclusive government”, and Germany said it would join international efforts