While several officials characterised the round-up which began this week as the foiling of a specific plot, others said it was a precautionary measure before the US withdrawal, nearly nine years after the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam.
Government officials have long expressed concern that Baathists would try to retake power when US troops depart.
“We have arrested a group belonging to the former Baath party that were planning to launch sabotage actions and revolt to topple the political process in the country after withdrawal of American forces,” Lt. General Hussein Kamal, Iraq’s deputy interior minister for intelligence, told Reuters.
After ousting Saddam, US forces dissolved the Iraqi security forces and purged state institutions of members of his Baath party, moves that contributed to a bloody insurgency.
Iraq has since tried to bring some Baath party members not accused of major crimes back into public life.
Kamal said intelligence reports indicated that more than 300 suspects were part of a group which had been operating across Iraq, including the provinces of Baghdad, Najaf, Nassiriya, Wasit, Nineveh, Diyala, Kirkuk and Anbar.
“We are still following this dangerous group and we are working to neutralize this network with branches across Iraq,” he added, declining to offer any details of the plot.
More than eight years after the invasion and just two months ahead of a complete US withdrawal, Iraq is still grappling with the question of how to deal with the legacy of more than 20 years of Baathist rule. Many Iraqis joined the party just to advance in government positions or avoid trouble with Saddam.
