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The head of the Iraqi commission that initially disqualified about 500 candidates from running for office because of ties to the Ba'ath Party of dictator Saddam Hussein is rejecting a proposal he attributes to U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. that would allow the purged politicians to run for office.

In an exclusive interview with The Washington Times, Ali al-Lami, the executive director of the Accountability and Justice Commission, said, "There is no compromise. This is a matter of the Iraqi Constitution. It is not a political issue."