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Iraqis far apart over role of Islam
9.8.2005
By Dan Murphy
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BAGHDAD - Rather
than huddling over constitutional drafts, Prime
Minister Ibrahim Jaafari made a pilgrimage over the
weekend to the Shiite shrine city of Najaf, the home
of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most
powerful Shiite cleric.
"Ayatollah al-Sistani does not want to impose
dictates on drafting the constitution, but according
to my knowledge he hopes that Islam becomes the main
source of legislation," Mr. Jaafari told reporters.
While Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish political leaders
have sought compromise on issues of national
identity and federalism to meet the Aug. 15 deadline
for the new constitution, Jaafari's statement
indicates that the majority Shiites may be hardening
on one of the most contentious issues: the role of
Islam in the government.
And while Iraq's political leaders have expressed
hope they would meet next week's deadline, if the
prime minister has accurately portrayed the views of
Sistani (the quiet power behind every major decision
made since the US-occupied Iraq), it's likely to
mean that the US hope of installing a secular,
liberal democracy in Iraq is receding from view.
What this means for meeting the constitution
deadline is unclear. While the gulf between Iraq's
leaders seems as wide as ever, if the deadline is
missed, under current rules set in Iraq's
Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), the current
parliament would be dissolved and the constitutional
process set back to Square 1.
Working toward compromise
But the one thing the major Iraqi factions agree on
is that they won't allow that to happen. Where a
compromise might come from, however, is unclear.
Iraq President Jalal Talabani held constitutional
talks at his home Sunday that ended without any
breakthroughs. Monday, leadership meetings on the
constitution were canceled because of a fierce
sandstorm that swept through Baghdad, closing the
airport and making the roads treacherous.
US and Iraqi officials have hinted that a sort of
skeletal constitution might be agreed now, leaving
hard choices on Islam and expanded territory for
Kurds' until a later date.
But in a populist speech to one of two Kurdish
regional parliaments over the weekend, Kurdish
regional President Massoud Barzani, who also leads
the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) signaled a
hardening of his position.
"We will not accept that Iraq's identity is an
Islamic one,'' he told them. "There will be no
bargaining over our basic rights." He also demanded
65 percent of the revenue from the Kirkuk oil
fields, Iraq's second largest, to go to the Kurdish
autonomous region, something Shiite leaders say is
unacceptable.
Other Kurdish lawmakers in the session demanded a
provision be included that promises them a vote on
independence within eight years, and warned they
might simply declare independence if the
constitution doesn't satisfy their demands. This
position infuriates Iraq's Shiite and Sunni Arabs,
and is seen as a threat by Iran, Syria and Turkey,
which have restless Kurdish populations of their
own.
Drafting rules require consensus among the committee
to put a draft constitution up for a full vote in
parliament. That leaves the minority Kurds, who fear
Islamic law, in as strong a bargaining position as
the majority Shiite Arabs.
"We see a secular constitution as the most important
guarantee of individual rights,'' says one Kurdish
leader, who asked that his name not be used. "Once
too much religious language is in there, we could
end up threatened with another dictator."
Though the US has waded into the debate, with US
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad saying there "can be no
compromise" on "equal rights before the law for all
Iraqis regardless of gender, race, ethnicity,
religion or sect," the Shiite political parties
insist a much bigger role for Islam is the answer to
many of Iraq's ills.
"I don't see where the concern is - all rights are
guaranteed under Islam,'' says Saad Jawad Qindeel,
the head of political affairs for the Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, one of
the two main Shiite parties. "We are willing to meet
all stipulations for protecting individual rights,
but Islam is a big part of the character of the
Iraqi people."
Mr. Qindeel says Shiite parties are willing to
compromise - but in ways that are unlikely to
satisfy the secular Kurds. He says that they'd
prefer that Islam be the "only source" of Iraqi
legislation. But they would be willing to live with
a constitution that calls Islam "a source" of
legislation, if a further stipulation is added:
"That no legislation be enacted that violates the
basic truths of Islam."
Sistani's push for Islamic law
With Sistani apparently weighing in on the issue,
the Shiite position on Islam is unlikely to shift.
The reclusive cleric doesn't like meddling directly
in politics, but his rare pronouncements carry vast
weight with millions of Iraqi Shiites.
"If Ayatollah al-Sistani suggests that he wants
Islam in the constitution, that will harden the
position of those who want a religious-oriented
state," says Tom Palmer, a senior fellow at the Cato
Institute in Washington, who has met with members of
Iraq's parliament on the constitution and is closely
following the drafting process.
"It's possible that the law would be innocuous and
merely say that no legislation may violate Islam.
The big problem is, who gets to determine that?
Religious courts? Whose?" says Mr. Palmer.
The Kurds worry that any such provision could lead
to clerics dictating basic issues of law, though
Qindeel says this shouldn't be a problem.
In the proposal put forward by his faction, what is
or is not Islamic would be determined by a panel of
"judges and lawyers and religious leaders,'' Qindeel
says.
To be sure, while the KDP was drawing lines in the
sand, the leader of the other major Kurdish faction,
the more moderate Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK),
hinted that Kurds might allow the final status of
Kirkuk, the oil-rich city that was once dominated by
Kurds but was "Arabized" under a program of
displacement by Saddam Hussein, to be determined
after a constitution is written.
After meeting with Ambassador Khalilzad Sunday, Mr.
Talabani, the PUK leader and current Iraqi
president, said that as long as steps are taken in
the coming months to repatriate Kurds who were
forced out of Kirkuk, his faction would accept a
final decision after the constitution is ratified.
An aide to Talabani said the Kurds will need to see
major efforts to increase the Kurdish population of
Kirkuk in the interim before an Oct. 15 national
vote to ratify the constitution. If that doesn't
happen, they'll still have the right to reject the
constitution and begin the process again.
Next steps for Iraqi government
Aug. 15 -
Deadline for completion of Iraq's constitution.
Shiites, Kurds, and Sunnis are scrambling to
surmount differences over federalism and the role of
Islam.
Oct. 15 -
Referendum on the constitution. If two thirds reject
in any three provinces, the constitution will fail.
This effectively gives the Kurds a veto.
December -
National elections would be slated for mid-month if
the referendum passes.
2006 - Possible
start of an American drawdown of forces if the above
steps move forward as planned, and Iraqi troops
deemed ready.
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