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BASRA,
Iraq, June 27 - With the Aug. 15 deadline for
writing a new constitution bearing down, a cadre of
powerful, mostly secular Shiite politicians is
pushing for the creation of an autonomous region in
the oil-rich south of Iraq, posing a direct
challenge to the nation's central authority.
The politicians argue that the long-impoverished
south has never gotten its fair share of the
country's oil money, even though the bulk of Iraqi
oil reserves lie near Basra, at the head of the
Persian Gulf. They also say they cannot trust anyone
holding power in Baghdad because of the decades of
harsh oppression under the Sunni Arab government of
Saddam Hussein.
"We want to destroy the central system that connects
the entire country to the capital," said Bakr al-Yasseen,
a former foe of Mr. Hussein who spent years in exile
in Syria. He is one of the chief organizers of the
autonomy campaign, which is supported by Ahmad
Chalabi, the one-time Pentagon favorite and scion of
a prominent Shiite family from the south, among
others.
Mr. Yasseen, who has ties to Jalal Talabani, the
Iraqi president and a Kurd, is demanding for the
south the same broad powers that the Kurds now have,
including an independent parliament, ministries and
regional military force.
The Kurds have long demanded a strong measure of
autonomy in a future Iraqi state. But the issue of
an autonomous south is new, and complicates the
already heated discussions on federalism in the new
constitution. The religious Shiite parties and the
Sunni Arabs have generally opposed Kurdish autonomy,
but the emergence of a southern drive for greater
regional independence could lend important support
to the Kurds' quest.
Here in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, banners
have appeared on the streets in recent weeks calling
for an autonomous region similar to Iraqi Kurdistan.
Academics and local politicians are holding meetings
at night to try to define their demands. Some are
talking on the phone to members of the
constitutional committee in Baghdad on an almost
daily basis.
While religious Shiite parties now dominate the
national government, many people here fear that the
parties may not adequately defend the rights of the
south and worry about the rise of another
authoritarian government, perhaps a conservative
Islamic one.
"There's no democracy in Iraq," Mr. Yasseen said,
expressing the deep suspicions of moderate and
secular Shiites. "Anyone who says there's democracy
has a little Saddam in his head. He wants to become
a Saddam."
Mr. Chalabi and Sheik Abdul Kareem al-Muhammadawi, a
prominent member of the National Assembly, are
planning to propose a regional vote on the question
of southern autonomy in October, at the same time as
a national referendum on the constitution, said Ali
Faisal al-Lami, an aide to both politicians. Mr.
Chalabi comes from the southern city of Nasiriya,
and though he is distrusted by many Iraqis, he could
use his family and political ties to wield
considerable influence in an autonomous south.
The advocates of autonomy say that while the south
has 80 to 90 percent of Iraq's oil reserves, the
country's only ports and its richest date palm
groves, the neglect under Mr. Hussein's rule is
painfully evident: many of the avenues here resemble
garbage dumps, open sewage floods some streets, and
shantytowns dot the landscape. The south should have
partial or full control over how its oil wealth and
other income are distributed, the federalists say.
Mr. Yasseen recently sent a letter to the National
Assembly demanding that it begin discussing the
possibility of southern autonomy. Dozens of Kurdish
legislators the letter, forcing the issue to the
table.
"I support a real region in the south," said Abdul
Khalik Zengana, a senior official in the Kurdistan
Democratic Party, one of the two main Kurdish
parties. "That will help our interests, and it will
help to enhance federalism in Iraq. We bless this
step. But we also think southern federalism should
be decided on by a referendum of people in the
south."
American officials have remained publicly silent on
the matter. The interim constitution that the
Americans co-wrote last year says Iraq must adopt a
federal system "to avoid the concentration of
power."
"We want a moderate federalist system," said an
American official who spoke on the condition of
anonymity, because of government protocol. But it is
up to the Iraqis to figure out exactly how governing
powers should be divided, he added.
Any move toward federalism and autonomy is anathema
to some religious Shiite parties, which made big
gains in the January elections and now wield
considerable power in both Baghdad and the south.
They say they distrust American-backed goals, and
they argue that Islamic states have historically
favored a strong central government. Furthermore,
they want all the oil revenues to be controlled from
Baghdad.
The staunchest Shiite opponents of autonomy are
Moktada al-Sadr, the young firebrand cleric who led
two uprisings against the Americans, and Ayatollah
Muhammad Yacoubi, another activist cleric who was
close to Mr. Sadr's martyred father.
Mr. Yacoubi's Fadilah Party governs Basra, while Mr.
Sadr's organization and his militia have a
formidable presence here. The two groups believe
that a legendary imam called the Mahdi will appear
soon and cleanse the world of infidels, creating
universal Islamic rule. Any division of powers is
incompatible with that belief, they say, and could
also lead to the breakup of Iraq.
"Most of the people reject the idea of autonomy,"
Sheik Abdul-Sattar al-Bahadli, a senior cleric in
the Sadr organization, said in an interview here.
"The idea of federalism arose after the occupation
of Iraq, and it's the idea of the occupiers."
Countries in the region, especially Iran and Saudi
Arabia, are also likely to balk at the idea of an
autonomous south, since those governments fear
independence movements from ethnic or religious
minorities in their own oil-rich areas. Kurdish
autonomy already inspires anxiety in Turkey, Iran
and Syria, all countries with significant Kurdish
populations.
Mr. Yasseen and his allies envision a unified
political south that would encompass the cities of
Basra, Nasiriya and Amara. It would be one of a
half-dozen autonomous regions in Iraq, each with
powers approaching true sovereignty, as in
Kurdistan.
Another group of federalists, most of them
academics, disagree with that plan. They want a more
moderate system of federalism that would give less
sovereign power to outlying regions and preserve a
stronger central government.
Some people think that "the Kurdish model of
federalism is not a successful one," said Dhiaa al-Asadi,
a spokesman for the group and a supervisor in a
project promoting local governance that has
financing from the American government. "It is not a
federal region right now. It is almost a separate
country."
Mr. Asadi said a delegation from the south would try
to meet soon with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani,
the most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq, and other
religious leaders to try to persuade them to support
federalism.
Ali Adeeb and Abdul-Razzaq al-Saeidy contributed
reporting from Baghdad for this article.
www.nytimes.com
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