Biden going to Iraq due to concerns about candidates barred from elections

The official would not confirm Biden's expected trip, in keeping with the policy of not announcing visits to the war zones in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Talabani said Thursday that he would look into the legitimacy of the Accountability and Justice Commission, the group that proposed barring the candidates to Iraq's independent electoral commission. It was the first clear sign that top Iraqi officials are searching for a way to reverse the disqualifications, which have raised fears among Sunni Arabs that they will once again be shut out of the political process. Most Sunni Arabs boycotted the January 2005 elections as a way to protest the U.S. occupation or because of threatened violence.

"Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were forced to join the Baath Party in order to get on in life, and this must not be held against them," Talabani said.

Parliament passed a law in 2008 to replace the controversial U.S.-created de-Baathification commission with the current Accountability and Justice Commission. But a new commission was never formally appointed, and the chairman of the de-Baathification commission, Ahmed Chalabi, has remained in charge.

Chalabi is an erstwhile Pentagon and CIA ally who played a crucial role in the run-up to the invasion. He has fallen out of favor, and U.S. officials now accuse him of spying for Iran. Chalabi's deputy on the commission, Ali Faisal al-Lami, spent nearly a year in U.S. custody for a suspected connection to the bombing of a Sadr City government building that killed two American soldiers and two U.S. Embassy employees in 2008. He has denied involvement in the attack and has said he was tortured by his U.S. interrogators.

Disqualified candidates can appeal the decision to a panel of judges. Most officials worry that with less than two months to go before the elections, there will not be enough time to resolve more than 500 appeals.

In an e-mail to journalists, Entifadh Qanbar, a Chalabi confidant, slammed the United States for defending "terrorists."

"If you are a Terrorists, Corrupt, Thug, Killer, Baathist then the US will love you and give tons of money and the VP may make calls on your behalf," his e-mail said. "If you are a Patriotic, Honest, Fight Terror then you are Iranian agent and the US will hate you."

In the past few days, Iraqi officials have held a series of meetings to examine ways to soften the disqualification effort. Some officials say Maliki and other top officials are looking for a solution without violating Iraq's constitution.

"In the end, this whole subject will be dismissed and evaporate," said Nabil Khalil Saied, one of the barred candidates. "It will be difficult for the government to change 180 degrees, but they are going to create some kind of scenario, make up some story to try to avoid any kind of shame."

x fadell@washpost.com

x x Correspondent Ernesto Londoño and special correspondent K.I. Ibrahim in Baghdad and staff writer Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.

x x