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Arab
League Secretary-General Amr Moussa has described
the Iraqi draft constitution as "dangerous".
Mr Moussa was reacting to the document's failure to
describe Iraq as an Arab state.
The draft constitution says the Arabs in Iraq are
part of the Arab nation, but Iraq as a whole is not.
This is seen as a major victory for the Kurds and
other ethnic minorities who are not Arabs, and a
disaster for the Arabs and their brethren in Iraq.
Iraq is one of the founding members of the Arab
League - an organisation that has for over half a
century defined itself as the standard-bearer of
pan-Arabism, a political doctrine that aspires to
the unification of all Arab states.
It is the founding ideology of the Arab League, the
Baath Party and other like-minded movements that
have shaped the politics of the region for more than
50 years.
'Bastion of Arabism'
The pan-Arab ideology is still popular across the
region but has come under increasing criticism
following the humiliating defeat and capture of
Saddam Hussein.
Playing down the Arab identity of Iraq is viewed as
a great setback to the cause of Arab unity.
Iraq has often been described the bastion of
Arabism.
During its war with Iran in the 1980s, Iraq was
described as the keeper of the eastern gate of the
Arab world against the historic enemies of the Arab
- that is, the Persians.
Like other pan-Arabists, Mr Moussa fears that a
federal Iraq could only be a prelude to the break-up
of the country, which could mean a definite loss of
a key player in pan-Arab politics.
www.bbc.co.uk
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