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ERBIL,
Kurdistan-Iraq, March 21, 2006 (AFP) - 10h33 -
Iraq's predominantly Kurdish northern provinces
celebrated New Year or Newroz on Tuesday with
dancing and singing amid tight security as violence
wracked the rest of the country.
But traditional wishes for a happy new year took on
additional urgency on the third anniversary of the
US-led invasion of Iraq with the country teetering
on the edge of civil war.
"I hope that this coming year will strengthen
federalism in the country and strengthen brotherhood
between Kurds and Arabs," Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani, a Kurd, said in a new year's message.
"I hope that this year will bring a federal,
democratic Iraq free from terrorism and murder," he
added, repeating a key Kurdish demand that Iraq
remain a federal republic granting Kurds widespread
autonomy in their three northern provinces.
The violence wracking the center of the country is
largely absent here as families headed to
mountainside resorts over the four-day holiday, but
the turmoil elsewhere remained on people's minds.
"I wish in my heart that there will be peace and
happiness in Iraq and the country will be rid of
terrorism," said Soma Karim, who stayed in Arbil for
the holidays.
Government buildings in Arbil were draped in festive
holiday bunting.
"I hope a united national government will be formed
and Iraq and the Kurds will get their rights," said
Shelan Ahmed.
Negotiations to form a new national government,
which took a week-long break just before the
holiday, are still deadlocked more than three months
after Iraqis went to the polls.
On Monday night, Kurds gathered in the center of
town to mark the beginning of the holiday carrying
candles while dancing and singing traditional songs
for the occasion.
The Kurds' Newroz is similar to neighboring Iran's
Noruz and has been celebrated for at least 3,000
years, long predating Islam.
Rooted in Iran's native Zoroastrian religion, the
festival is celebrated throughout large stretches of
Asia where the Persian Empire was historically
influential.
Police and peshmerga fighters, the heavily armed
Kurdish militia, were on high alert for any kind of
insurgent attack during the holidays, Arbil governor
Nuzad Hadi told AFP.
"The Kurdish authorities implemented very strict
security measures to ensure the celebrations could
take place peacefully and quietly," he said.
Cars without license plates were also banned from
circulating in the streets of Arbil.
While insurgent attacks are rare in the northern
provinces, the Kurds have their own woes as
witnessed by recent riots in Halabja, when thousands
of Kurdish students protested government corruption
and a lack of services.
The administration of the autonomous region's three
provinces remains divided between the two main
Kurdish parties. Despite numerous pledges to unify,
the parties remain arch rivals.
"With this year, all of Kurdistan eagerly awaits the
unification of the two administrations and the
commencement of the mission to provide its citizens
better services," the Arbil-based regional
parliament said in a statement.
AFP
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