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Iraq parliament delays divisive federal
debate
11.9.2006 |
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BAGHDAD,
September 11, - Iraq's parliament delayed debate on
Sunday on a divisive draft law on federalism that
minority Sunni Arabs fear could lead to the
partition of Iraq and stoke sectarian conflict that
has already killed thousands.
The Shi'ite and Kurdish-sponsored draft law paves
the way for Iraq's 18 provinces to form autonomous
federal regions with their own governments and
security forces. Kurdistan, encompassing three
provinces in "northern Iraq", is already largely
autonomous and has its own president and parliament.
But Sunnis, concentrated in Iraq's resource-poor
central and western provinces, are opposed to such a
move, fearing it would seal their political doom by
giving Shi'ites in the south and Kurds in the north
control of much of Iraq's oil.
"We stand against this law. This law wants to divide
Iraq," Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of the biggest Sunni
Arab bloc in parliament, the Iraqi Accordance Front,
said on Sunday.
Kurdish and Shi'ite politicians drew their own
battle lines, insisting the draft law, which was to
have had its first reading on Sunday, would go
before parliament on September 19, a date they said
had originally been agreed by the Sunni parties.
"We will not retreat," said Shi'ite deputy speaker
Khaled al-Attiya, although not all Shi'ite parties
back the draft law.
The dispute comes amid rising tensions between
Iraq's once-dominant Sunni minority and newly
politically empowered Shi'ite majority that has
unleashed a wave of bloodletting.
The influence of neighboring Shi'ite Iran has
concerned the United States and Iraqi Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki was due to pay his first official
visit to Tehran on Monday. But Iraqi and Iranian
officials said the trip could be delayed a day or
two, and Iraq's envoy to Iran cited "technical
reasons".
Washington accuses Iran of giving logistical and
financial support to Shi'ite militias in Iraq,
something Tehran denies.
The possible breakup of Iraq has been a common theme
amid the sectarian strife and unrelenting Sunni
insurgency against the U.S. occupation and Maliki's
government.
Iraq's parliament faces an October 22 deadline to
pass the federalism law that ideally will seek to
outline the mechanics of forming federal regions and
the relationship between them and the central
government, among other issues.
DIVISION OF IRAQ
Several Shi'ite leaders, notably Abdul-Aziz
al-Hakim, the head of the powerful SCIRI party, a
partner in the government, have called for a Shi'ite
"super-region" of nine provinces to be created in
the oil-rich area from south of Baghdad to the Gulf.
Another top Shi'ite leader, radical young cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr who draws much of his support from
the capital's poor, has voiced reservations about
the federal project. He and Hakim held talks in the
holy city of Najaf on Sunday.
Some analysts say the failure of the constitution to
put a limit on the number of provinces that can form
a region is a recipe for disaster and could cleave
Iraq into polarized blocs, one Kurdish, one Shi'ite
and one Sunni, that would entrench ethnic and
religious divisions.
"This law is a step toward the division of Iraq and
we want to draw the attention of all Arab and
Islamic nations to the dangers of this law ...
Federalism is a step toward the division of Iraq,"
Sunni leader Dulaimi said.
Sunni leaders want a review of the constitution that
was promised to win their participation in last
December's elections and accuse Shi'ites of being
"in a hurry" to pass the law.
But Shi'ite and Kurdish politicians said on Sunday
the draft law was simply intended to meet the
October 22 deadline and did not set the clock
ticking on the formation of new federal regions.
"To retreat from this draft would be to divide Iraq.
Federalism is a way to unify the state," said
Kurdish politician Saad al-Barazenji.
Dominant in post-war Iraq's politics, Shi'ites and
Kurds were oppressed under Saddam Hussein, who is
set to go back to court on Monday to face genocide
charges for a 1988 military campaign against Kurds.
Six former commanders also face charges.
In fresh violence on Sunday, police said they had
had found more than a tonne of explosives at a local
electronics company in Baghdad's Karrada district
after a gunbattle in which three men guarding the
premises were killed.
Police Brigadier Khaled al-Obeidi told a news
conference that an al Qaeda leader, Abu Jaafer al-Libei,
had narrowly escaped capture in the raid but gave no
details.
Reuters
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