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Iraq's parliament approves federalism law
11.10.2006 |
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Baghdad, Iraq,
October 11, -- Iraq's parliament on Wednesday
approved a law that sets out the mechanics of
forming federal regions, an issue Sunni minority
leaders fear might tear the country apart in
sectarian civil war.
The law, backed by some Shi'ite majority leaders who
have been keen to set up a big, autonomous region in
their oil-rich south, was passed in a session
boycotted by the Accordance Front, the largest
political bloc of the Sunni minority.
Hostility between rival communities over federalism
-- one of post-war Iraq's most sensitive issues --
is threatening the ability of the four-month-old
national unity government to rein in mounting
sectarian and ethnic violence.
Legislators loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr and the smaller Shi'ite Fadhila Party stayed
away from Wednesday's vote, showing Shi'ite support
for federalism is not unanimous. |
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Shi'ite and Sunni leaders last month agreed to put
off implementation of the federalism law for at
least 18 months, effectively delaying the creation
of any autonomous regions until 2008.
Sunnis, dominant under Saddam Hussein, fear a
federal Iraq would hand northern and southern
oilfields to ethnic Kurds and Shi'ites respectively,
and would leave them trapped in a poor, desert rump
state in central and western Iraq.
The biggest Shi'ite party, SCIRI, proposes merging
nine of Iraq's 18 provinces into one autonomous
region in the Shi'ite south. Sunnis, dominant under
Saddam Hussein, want amendments to the constitution
to guarantee the sharing of oil revenues.
Reuters
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