BAGHDAD — In an effort to preserve territorial integrity, Iraq is reviewing a federal system that would enable autonomous
regions.
Iraq's parliament, amid unprecedented sectarian violence, intends to
study a plan that would allow provinces to join to form autonomous regions, Middle East Newsline reported.
Deputies acknowledged that the plan was
designed to prevent the near-term secession of the Kurdish autonomous zone
in northern Iraq as well as the Shi'ites in the south and center of the
country.
Shi'ites and Kurds comprise the huge majority of the Iraq Army and
security forces, and many of their leaders have been quietly bracing for the
break-up of the country. Politicians from both groups said the future of a
united Iraq could be determined by 2007.
"In the next few sessions, the parliament will discuss the law for the
formation of provinces," Abbas Al Bayati, spokesman for the ruling
United Iraqi Alliance, said.
[On Thursday, the Baghdad government announced the first official
executions since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. A government
statement said 27 so-called terrorists convicted of murder and rape were
executed on Wednesday. No details were provided.]
The Shi'ite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, heavily influenced by Iran,
has favored such a law, not expected to be implemented until at least
mid-2007. The Shi'ites comprise a majority in central and southern Iraq, an
area that includes huge oil reserves around Basra.
"The law will define how the regions are formed and whether it will be
done by the governing council or through popular referendum," Hamid Mualla
Al Saadi, a senior member of the United Iraqi Alliance, said.
The Kurds have sought control over the oil fields around Kirkuk. At the
same time, the Kurdish government has outlawed the Iraqi national flag,
saying it stems from the Saddam era.
"It's a Saddamist flag," Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said.
"A lot of crimes have been committed under this flag in the south, in the
north and against our neighbors."
Sunni parliamentarians, a minority in the 275-seat National Assembly,
have opposed the federalism proposal. Sunni provinces in western Iraq
contain no major oil or natural gas reserves.
"We will give our opinion on federalism to parliament soon," Sunni
deputy Alaa Maki said. "But we do not object to the administrative
application of federalism for better administration under the supervision of
a strong central government."
