Iraq arrests suspect in anti-Baath chief murder

Iraqi authorities have arrested a man in connection with the assassination last week of the head of Iraq's controversial anti-Baath committee, Baghdad's security command centre said on Tuesday. Ali al-Lami was killed by a gunshot to the head in what a friend called a "very well-planed operation", little more than a year after he made headlines by banning a swathe of would-be MPs from participating in Iraq's March 2010 elections over their alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath party. "We have arrested a terrorist who carried out the operation of the assassination of Ali al-Lami," Baghdad operations command said in a statement on their website, noting the man was detained in Taji, a town 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the capital. "He was an officer in the intelligence service of the former regime," it added, without giving details of the suspect or when he was arrested. Lami's murder was the latest in a spate of targeted killings of senior civilian and military officials, and was roundly condemned by political leaders. The Justice and Accountability Commission (JAC) that he headed from February 2004 banned several hundred would-be MPs from taking part in Iraq's March 7, 2010 parliamentary election because of their alleged ties to Saddam's party. The body came in for sharp criticism over its membership -- Lami, who was executive director, and chairman Ahmed Chalabi ran for parliament on the Iraqi National Alliance slate, a collection of Shiite religious parties. While Lami was unsuccessful, Chalabi won a seat. The row over the bans and the apparent conflict of interest dominated the election campaign, raising questions about the JAC’s legal status and the ultimate fairness of the vote. The process also heightened political tensions in a country that was engulfed by deadly sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007. Iraq's government said last year it was looking to reform and reconstitute the committee.