Iraq PM calls parliament over banned candidates

Iraq's prime minister has convened parliament for Sunday to debate what his government branded an "illegal" decision to reinstate candidates with alleged links to ousted dictator Saddam Hussein in next month's election, state television said.

The television said parliament speaker Iyad Samarrai had at the request of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called MPs to an extraordinary session "to study the decision of the seven judges."

The electoral commission announced on Wednesday that the judges had ruled that around 500 candidates barred from Iraq's March 7 general election could stand after all.

"Postponing implementing the law of the Justice and Accountability Commission till after the election is illegal and not constitutional," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement on his website.

Shiite groups, which along with Iraq's minority Kurds bore the brunt of Baath party repression during the rule of Sunni dictator Saddam, also condemned the ruling.

The candidate ban was seen by many Sunnis as a conspiracy by Shiite-led factions to keep them from a fair share of power even though the list has more Shiite names and a disproportionate number from smaller, cross-sectarian alliances.

The parliamentary election is seen as a test of Iraqi democracy as it emerges from years of conflict after the 2003 U.S. invasion, and of whether it can bridge the divides between the once dominant Sunnis and the Shiite majority.

The vote was postponed from January due to discord between political factions.

Postponing implementing the law of the Justice and Accountability Commission till after the election is illegal and not constitutional

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh