Iraqi nationality law approved

The new law restores nationality to Iraq's Shia Muslims

Details have emerged of the new nationality law approved by the Iraqi Governing Council on Tuesday.

The council president, Ahmad Chalabi, said the law restored Iraqi nationality for people stripped of it under the former government of Saddam Hussein.

The new law has also reinstituted the concept of dual nationality for Iraqi people.

It also suggests that discrimination between men and women has been removed.

Council member Nasir al-Jadrity told the BBC that the new law would restore citizenship to thousands of Shia Muslims who were deprived of their nationality.

This happened when their loyalty to Saddam was questioned during the long drawn war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s.

There are up to 15 million Shia Muslims in Iraq.