By Andrew L. Jaffee

Boy, have I been burned in the past, getting my hopes up for Iraq, and then seeing Iraqis blow it. But several events of interest are worth noting today. First, the Shiite-dominated government has finally held its own members accountable for involvement in torture. Second, Saddam’s former #2 has ordered Baathist groups to cease terrorist attacks. Still hope for national reconciliation? Here are the details, first from the Washington Post:

Iraq’s Interior Ministry has charged 57 employees, including high-ranking officers, with human rights crimes for their roles in the torture of hundreds of detainees once jailed in a notorious eastern Baghdad prison known as Site 4, officials announced Monday.

The charges marked the first time the present Iraqi government has taken criminal action against members of its own security forces for operating torture chambers inside Interior Ministry prisons, said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, a ministry spokesman. …

Second, from the Houston Chronicle:

Saddam Hussein’s former second in command, now a fugitive with a $10 million bounty on his head, has ordered Baath party bosses still in Iraq to cease attacks, according to government and parliamentary officials who claimed knowledge of the developments.

Four officials in the Iraqi government and parliament, each in a position to hear about largely secret efforts to reach accord with members of the Sunni insurgency, said former Iraqi vice president Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri has ordered Baath party bosses still in Iraq to end attacks within the past two days. …

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Related: Iraq, Terrorist Groups

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