Iraq court lifts ban on candidates with Hussein ties

BAGHDAD - An Iraqi appeals court yesterday set aside a ban on hundreds of candidates for suspected ties to Saddam Hussein's regime, allowing them to run in next month's parliamentary election and offering a chance to ease political showdowns that had deeply worried the White House.

The decision could remove, at least temporarily, a major trouble spot in the planning for nationwide voting March 7 to pick lawmakers and the political blocs that will shape the next government in Baghdad.

The blacklist, with more than 450 names, had been widely denounced by Sunni political leaders who view it as a way for the Shia-led government to undercut Sunni efforts to expand political clout.

U.S. concern about the election's credibility grew so acute that Vice President Joe Biden was in Baghdad last month appealing for ways to cool tensions.

The appeals court decision came during another reminder that Iraq's sectarian bloodshed is far from over.

A blast tore through a crowd of Shia pilgrims just outside the holy city of Karbala south of Baghdad, killing 23 people and injuring 120 in the second attack this week on the huge religious processions for annual observances, officials said. The explosion was called a car bomb by state TV. Earlier, police officials blamed a bomb-rigged motorcycle parked near the procession. The cause of the blast could not be independently verified. - AP