This paper has seemed unjustifiably protective of Chalabi but FWIW...
WASHINGTON - As Iraqis prepare to head to the polls Sunday some of the candidates on the ballot may be disqualified from holding office due to their prior connections to Saddam Hussein's government.
On January 11, the deputy of Iraq's Debaathification Commission, Jawad al-Maliki, submitted the names of 15 people running on Prime Minister Allawi's 221-person slate that he said cannot run for office because they were barred under the lustration procedures of the transitional administrative law.
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"We did not get these names until very late," a senior official with the Debaathification Commission told The New York Sun. "But Allawi's list has many senior Baathists. We checked the names."
The official, who asked that his identity not be disclosed due to recent threats, said the commission has received no response so far from the higher independent commission for elections in Iraq other than a signed form from the suspected candidates pledging they were not senior members of the Baath party, Saddam Hussein's regime, or engaging in espionage activities on behalf of Iraq's old intelligence services. All candidates in Sunday's election must sign such a form.
http://www.nysun.com/article/8374