**Iraq has lifted a ban on nearly 500 election candidates barred from the March election for alleged links to the late Saddam Hussein’s Baathist party.**Election officials said the ban had been lifted by an appeals panel on candidates listed by the post-Saddam Justice and Accountability Committee.
Correspondents say the ban was seen by the once-dominant Sunni minority as a tactic to marginalise them.
Restrictions on former Baathists have been eased in recent years.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani asked for the ban to be lifted.
Among those reported to have been barred were several prominent Sunni politicians, promoting accusations by their supporters of sectarian bias by the Shia-dominated authorities.
Baathism is a form of secular Arab nationalism and was the ideology espoused by Saddam Hussein when he came to power.