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BAGHDAD - Several thousand supporters of a
Shi'ite cleric marched through Shi'ite areas of
Baghdad after prayers on Friday, denouncing
federalism as an attempt to divide Iraq and calling
for national unity.
It was one of the largest marches in recent months
by followers of Moqtada al-Sadr, a young preacher
who has led two uprisings against U.S. forces, and
came as Iraqi leaders are locked in negotiations
over a new constitution.
The opposition to federalism expressed by Sadr's
supporters -- mostly poor, urban Shi'ites -- stands
in stark contrast to a recent proposal by Abdul Aziz
al-Hakim, another Shi'ite leader, for the creation
of a separate Shi'ite region in southern Iraq.
Chanting "No! No! to division", "Yes! Yes! to
unity", Sadr's supporters moved through at least
three neighbourhoods, with the biggest crowds --
around 5,000 people -- in the poor Sadr City
district of northeastern Baghdad.
Police cars drove ahead of the marchers, keeping
order. Many marched under umbrellas to stave off the
burning sun. Women in black abaya robes covering
their bodies and faces carried banners above their
heads reading "No to division".
The march shows the complexity of the divisions
within Iraqi society, which is not only split along
ethnic and sectarian lines, but also within sects,
with Shi'ites clearly at sharp odds over an issue
that has become fundamental to their future.
Federalism -- granting legislative and other powers
to autonomous regions -- is one of at least three
points holding up talks over the constitution, which
has to be drafted by an Aug. 22 deadline.
The debate has its roots in the autonomy that Iraq's
Kurds have enjoyed in northern Iraq since the 1991
Gulf War. They now want that independence to be
enshrined in the constitution via the creation of a
federal Kurdish region.
Shi'ites had generally been opposed to too much
Kurdish independence, until Hakim's suggestion a
week ago for the creation of a federal Shi'ite state
in the south. With Iraq's oil reserves focused in
the south and the north, both see an opportunity for
the creation of viable, semi-autonomous states.
But Sunnis on the constitution-drafting committee
strongly oppose any decentralisation of power,
fearing their community, concentrated in central
Iraq, will be left with no access to oil if the
Shi'ites and Kurds form breakaway zones.
Hakim's proposal, while welcomed by some Shi'ites,
was not universally well-received. Prime Minister
Ibrahim Jaafari, the head of another Shi'ite party,
favours a loose federal structure. Friday's marches
revealed he may have wider support.
"Moqtada al-Sadr's concern is that Iraq must be
united, not divided," said Fatah al-Sheikh, a
Shi'ite member of parliament who is closely allied
to Sadr and who led one of the marches.
"He asked that today, after Friday prayers, we put
on a demonstration against the principle of
federalism, which has been proposed in an effort to
divide Iraq.
"He is calling for unity, and for opposition to
occupation."
Reuters
www.almendhar.com
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