Blood money revenge returning to Iraq.

Byline: Sudarsan Raghavan

BASRA, Iraq _ The families of the men Faisal Kinhar blames for his son's death offered him a total of $4,000, hoping to buy forgiveness _ and protection. But it was too little, and too late. No amount of money, he felt, could bring back his son, Thaer, executed four years ago by Saddam Hussein's Baath regime.

Kinhar wanted to look his son's executioners in the eyes, preferably with a sharp knife in his hand. Tribal codes, however, dictated that he agree to a month-long truce to try and settle the matter.

In the absence of laws and courts, the families of Baathist officials and their victims are using the centuries-old tribal practice of blood money payments to settle the crimes of Saddam Hussein's regime.

If they work, such compensations could help prevent a mass bloodletting that could destabilize the new Iraq at a time when revenge attacks against Baathists are beginning to surface.

"Our family will respect the truce," said Abdallah Kinhar, 45, Faisal's brother, who was seated on a red carpet inside their family home. "We will not go to their house for one month."

If the men ...