Hundreds of Shiites staged demonstrations in the southern cities of Najaf and Basra in support of a decision by the Election Commission to bar candidates linked to former dictator Saddam Hussein. The Election Commission has banned more than 500 candidates from the March 7, 2010 vote due to their alleged links with the outlawed Baath party. The protesters claimed that Baathists and Nazis were “two faces of the same coin” and that a return to Baath rule will se a return of “attacks and prison.”1

• 1. ‘Iraqis protest in support of ‘Saddam’ candidates ban’, Khaleej Times, January 21, 2010 at http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2...