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Divided Government Begins to Take Shape
ERBIL, Kurdistan-Iraq, May 20 (IPS) - Major
differences continue to divide Shias, Sunnis and
Kurds in their move to form a national unity
government. Thorny issues are being dealt with
simply by putting them aside.
About the thorniest of them are federalism and
Kirkuk. Many leaders fear these issues could break
the fragile togetherness any time.
With the new cabinet due to be announced soon, Kurds
are warning against any move to end federalism or to
declare Kirkuk a part of Iraq, and not of Kurdistan.
Oil-rich Kirkuk falls just outside the Kurdistan
area. Kurdish leaders want it declared a part of
Kurdistan within a federal structure that would give
Kurdistan a large measure of autonomy. The Kirkuk
issue is controversial because Kirkuk also has a
large non-Kurd population. Many of them are Arabs
moved there by the Saddam regime.
"Federalism has become a reality on the ground and
cannot be changed," Firyad Rawandizy, Kurdish member
of the Iraqi parliament told IPS.
Rawandizy's remarks came after leading Sunni Arab
parliamentarian Zafer al-Ani said his main Sunni
list of the Iraqi Accordance Front will seek changes
to the constitution. These changes, he said, would
seek to reduce the powers of the regions and prevent
the creation of new autonomous entities.
"No one can change the key and fundamental issues in
the constitution, and we will certainly confront any
attempts to reduce our (Kurds') rights in that
document," said Rawandizy. He said some Sunni Arab
politicians were trying to restore Iraq's centralist
ruling system.
Sunnis, who largely rejected the constitution in
last October's referendum, believe it only paves the
way for the eventual break-up of the country through
vast powers devolved to the regions.
Control of oil is among the most contested issues.
Sunnis want to stop Kurds and Shias digging for oil
in their regions, saying that this must be within
the central government's jurisdiction. Since the
approval of the constitution, Kurds have launched
two oil-drilling projects in the northern areas
under their rule.
Disputes are intensifying now over control of Kirkuk
with its large oil reserves. The Kurdistan
government has demanded that the new prime minister
take serious steps to resolve the fate of the
ethnically mixed city.
"However, if he doesn't do so, we in the Kurdish
list will take decisions so as not to allow letting
go of Kirkuk," Rawandizy said.
The confrontation is growing amidst rising violence
around the country since the February blasts at the
Shia holy shrine in the predominantly Sunni city of
Samarra, north of Baghdad. That incident sparked
sectarian revenge on both sides, leading to the
death of more than 700 civilians, according to some
estimates.
This violence is leading to demands for a disbanding
of the factional militias to end the current mayhem,
and to give a new government a chance to govern.
"The unauthorised military formations are the
infrastructure for civil war... and represent a
serious threat to the stability of the country,"
U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad told
reporters at a joint press conference with Kurdish
leaders Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani in Arbil.
Iraq's leaders blame neighbouring countries for
provoking violence inside Iraq. They are warning of
possible retaliatory measures against such
interference.
"The neighbours can create problems for us and we
can do the same to them, if things do reach this
point. We do not want them to reach the point where
we create problems for each other," President Jalal
Talabani told the pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-awsat
this week.
A new government will face serious challenges both
within and in its neighbourhood. If these problems
are not tackled quickly, it "could bring Iraq on the
verge of real danger," Rawandizy said.
IPS
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