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Salahuddin, home region of the late dictator Saddam
Hussein, declared itself a semi-autonomous region
October 28, 2011
TIKRIT, — The provincial council of Iraq's
Sunni Arab majority Salaheddin province voted on
Thursday for it to become an administratively and
economically autonomous region similar to Kurdistan,
a statement said.
However, for the decision to take effect, it must
still be approved in a referendum by residents of
the province.
"We announce that the majority of the provincial
council voted to approve the declaration of
Salaheddin as an administrative and economic
region,"
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The provincial council of Iraq's Sunni Arab majority
Salaheddin province voted on Thursday for it to
become an administratively and economically
autonomous region similar to Kurdistan, a statement
said. Photo: Marwan Ibrahim/AFP |
the council's secretary general, Niyazi Oglu, said
in a statement.
But Ahmed Abdullah, the province's governor, said
the main reason for the vote was a campaign of
arrests carried out by Iraqi security forces in the
province without consultation, raising the
possibility that the council's decision was a vote
of protest rather than a serious bid for autonomy.
"The main reason behind this move is the arrests
operation undertaken by the central government
against the sons of the province, which was without
coordination or consultation with us," Abdullah
said.
According to Tikrit police, Iraqi security forces
arrested 30 alleged members of now-executed dictator
Saddam Hussein's Baath party on Sunday evening,www.ekurd.net
as part of a multi-province sweep against suspected
members.
Abdullah also accused the central government of
depriving the province of financial resources,
saying that was another reason for the decision.
According to Article 119 of the Iraqi constitution,
"one or more governorates shall have the right to
organise into a region based on a request to be
voted on in a referendum."
The Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, which is made
up of Erbil, Duhok and Sulaimaniyah provinces, is
currently the country's only autonomous region.
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author or news agency,
AFP
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