As Iraq's version of it is shoved into history, some of its people prescribe caution to those who would purge its ranks indiscriminately.
"The Baath Party itself isn't bad -- the ideology isn't bad -- but the administration of the party was bad," said Shukur Mahmoud, 42, a shopkeeper. "There are still good people in the Baath Party."
But Abbas Abu Mustafa, walking down a Baghdad street Friday afternoon, disagreed.
"The Baath Party is of no use to Iraq now or in the future," he said. "There are many good people in Iraq that can lead this country."
The Iraqi National Congress said it believes it has located a mass grave of 600 Kuwaiti prisoners missing since the first Persian Gulf War 12 years ago. An INC statement, e-mailed to the Associated Press, said the grave was discovered at an air base in the town of Habaniyah, located northwest of Baghdad.
It said INC officials were on the scene Friday and conducted initial tests at the site. The remains of some 40 people were recovered, it said.
The Kuwaitis were taken prisoner during Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990. A UN Security Council resolution approved after Iraq's eviction from Kuwait demanded the return of the Kuwaitis.
In a related development, the US military announced that a team of American nuclear specialists will conduct a damage assessment at Iraq's largest nuclear facility, the dormant Tuwaitha plant, weeks after it was repeatedly plundered by looters.
Reconstruction will top the agenda when US Treasury Secretary John Snow meets in Deauville, France, this weekend with his counterparts from the world's seven richest industrial countries and Russia.
Iraq's US administrators and Treasury officials also made headway in recovering some of Iraq's missing money.
Lebanon's Central Bank announced Friday that it froze millions of dollars in Iraqi assets but will return them only after a "legitimate" government is formed in Baghdad.
It did not disclose the amount, but US officials said US$495 million were found in secret Lebanese bank accounts.
Some parts of life in Baghdad were getting back to normal Friday.
A near-capacity crowd turned out on Friday to see Iraqi champion Police trounce al-Zawra 2-1 in the first soccer match since the downfall of Saddam, and to cheer on Rad Hamoudi -- Iraq's greatest star, fresh from years in exile.
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