Saddam-era spies at work in Iraq

BAGHDAD — Iraq's government has been quietly bringing back into service Saddam-era intelligence agents who have experience spying on Iranians.

The effort is aimed at improving Iraq's ability to gather intelligence about Iranian-supported networks operating in Iraq, said Dan Maguire, the top U.S. adviser on intelligence.

Most Saddam-era intelligence agents fled after the U.S.-led invasion. Saddam Hussein's notorious security services were the dictator's primary means of repressing the population.

The practice of hiring former intelligence agents seems to conflict with a new law designed to come to terms with people who worked in Saddam's ruling Baath Party. The "Accountability and Justice" law, passed this year, bans members of Saddam-era security services from government work because of their brutal reputation.

In the past, Iraq's government hasn't consistently or fairly applied regulations regarding the hiring of former Baath Party members, said Habib Nassar of the International Center for Transitional Justice, a non-profit group that studies human rights abuses. It's not clear how the law will be applied.

Spokesmen for the Iraqi government could not be reached for comment.

The issue highlights the difficulty of striking a balance between hiring experienced people and making a clean break from the past.

U.S. officials have approved of the practice of bringing back some former agents. Maguire said the hiring of former agents had "a lot of logic to it." He said he did not know how many agents would be affected by the ban on Baath Party members nor how many Saddam-era agents have been brought back.

Iraq's Interior Ministry intelligence department has been seeking "former regime intelligence officers, primarily ones that worked against the Iranian target," Maguire said.

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