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ERBIL, Iraq -
Iraqi Kurds went to the polls Saturday to vote for a
constitution that formalizes their self-rule, many
of them insisting they retain the right to split
from Iraq if it disintegrates.
Iraq's 4 million to 5 million Kurds are likely to
approve the document by a huge margin, but "if the
constitution is violated, we have the right or we
have the freedom to separate," said Falak al-Din
Kaka'i, an adviser to Kurdish political leader
Massoud Barzani.
Insurgent violence and factional rivalries between
majority Shiite Arabs, minority Sunni Arabs and
northern Kurds effectively mean "Iraq has been
divided into three parts," Kaka'i said.
Pro-constitution posters lined the walls of party
offices in Erbil, the largest of Iraq's
predominantly Kurdish cities. The posters urged a
"yes" vote for the document, arguing that the
charter would halt decades of violent repression of
the Kurds under Saddam Hussein.
"The new constitution is the end of oppression, the
end of mass graves," one poster read.
During voting hours on Saturday, there was no
vehicle traffic on the streets of Erbil. Police and
army troops stood at main intersections. Children
took to the deserted thoroughfares to play soccer in
bare feet, many using their plastic sandals as goal
posts.
There were no major lines at polling stations, in
contrast to January when joyous crowds mobbed polls
to vote for a transitional parliament. Most voters
entering the polls on Saturday said they accepted
the Iraqi constitution. But several said they were
merely heeding the advice of Kurdish political
leaders, rather than embracing the idea of a unified
Iraq.
"Even if I had to crawl, I would come here," said
Mustafa Ahmed Yassin, 79, a retired construction
worker who was leaning on his cane. "I just want
Kurds to be successful, to have an independent
state."
Chapter 1 of the draft constitution describes Iraq
as a "decentralized" country. It designates
"Kurdistan" as its first semiautonomous region and
lays out terms for creation of other self-governing
regions. A separate clause gives the Kurdish
constitution primacy over the national constitution
and central government in certain cases.
"In the future, we must have our right (to
independence) by making other nations in the area
accept us and deal with us as a reality," said Adnan
Mufti, the head of the Kurdish parliament.
Sunni Arabs, in particular, have opposed the parts
of the constitution that allow for autonomous
regions, fearing fractures that would leave northern
Kurds and southern Shiites with most of Iraq's oil
wealth.
Mufti said formation of a separate state depends
less on Iraqi politics than on the willingness of
Iran, Turkey and Syria to accept Kurdish
independence.
The four countries are home to an estimated 25
million Kurds; all four have opposed creation of a
Kurdish homeland and have brutally suppressed their
Kurdish minorities at times.
"Independent Kurdistan, it's a dream, but we are
realistic people," Mufti said. "Independent
Kurdistan is not in Kurdish interest now."
Iraq's Kurds have enjoyed self-rule since 1992, when
the United States and Britain created a no-fly zone
over the Kurdish north and patrolled skies there
with fighters.
Beyond the reach of Saddam's military, the Kurds
formed their own parliament, justice system and
security forces, and managed their economy
separately.
The proposed Iraqi constitution preserves all that
and includes the possibility the Kurdish region will
ultimately expand to include the disputed city of
Kirkuk, whichis home to sizable Arab and Turkmen
populations in additionto Kurds. Kirkuk is a major
oil-producing area.
Kurds objected to language, later removed, that
referred to Iraq as an Arab nation.
Kurds are mostly Muslims, but they speak a different
language, dress differently and are not Arabs.
"The most important thing is that the notion of
'Arab lands' ... was removed," Kaka'i said.
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