BAGHDAD, 12 May 2003 — The American general who commanded the Iraq war issued a statement yesterday saying Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party “is dissolved,” ordering the political organization that ruled the country for 35 years to cease existence immediately.
The message from Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of coalition forces, was read over US-controlled Information Radio yesterday afternoon.
“The Iraqi Baath Socialist Party is dissolved,” Franks said in the statement, read by an announcer in Arabic. The station is broadcast across Iraq on the AM band.
The statement told Iraqi citizens to collect and turn in any materials they had relating to the party and its operations. It called them “an important part of Iraqi government documents.”
