Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline: n/a
Date: 18 Sept 2006
Body:
BAGHDAD, Sept 18, 2006 (AFP) - A small Shiite party on Monday issued its own
prescription for forming autonomous regions in an effort to defuse a
mounting crisis over decentralization that critics say is a prelude to
dividing the nation.
Karim al-Yaqubi, a prominent member of the Fadhila Party which holds 15
seats in the 130-seat Shiite coalition, said his party had submitted a draft
allowing each province to form its own autonomous region.
"This would be an exit from the political crisis the country is undergoing,
besides assuring the other parties against implementation of the previous
proposals," he said.
The Shiite coalition, particularly the powerful Supreme Council for the
Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), has been trying to ram through a law
allowing the country's provinces to fuse together into autonomous regions,
such as that which already exists for the Kurds in the north.
The hope for many Shiites is to have an autonomous, oil-rich, Shiite region,
which would leave the Sunnis stranded with few resources in the center and
west of the country.
SCIRI's proposal not only provoked a backlash among the Sunni parties, but
also among secular nationalist politicians as well as within the Shiite
alliance itself.
Firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has 30 seats in the Shiite coalition,
came out against the law as an attempt to divide the country.
The move would also dilute the power of parties like Fadhila which are only
strong in Basra and neighboring Amara. Under the Fadhila's proposal, the
provinces themselves would become autonomous regions.
The controversial law on regions is expected to be debated in parliament
this week.
"There shall be no regional or international repercussions as the specter of
Iraq's division will disappear," said Yaqubi, adding that "the project is
deemed to be in support of the national reconciliation scheme".
Amid these fears of political division, sectarian strife continued across
the capital, with police on Monday reporting the discovery of 10 corpses in
the central Karkh neighborhood and another four in Risafa, also in the
center of Baghdad.
Three other bodies were found near the city of Kut, south of the capital.
Byline: n/a
Date: 18 Sept 2006
Body:
BAGHDAD, Sept 18, 2006 (AFP) - A small Shiite party on Monday issued its own
prescription for forming autonomous regions in an effort to defuse a
mounting crisis over decentralization that critics say is a prelude to
dividing the nation.
Karim al-Yaqubi, a prominent member of the Fadhila Party which holds 15
seats in the 130-seat Shiite coalition, said his party had submitted a draft
allowing each province to form its own autonomous region.
"This would be an exit from the political crisis the country is undergoing,
besides assuring the other parties against implementation of the previous
proposals," he said.
The Shiite coalition, particularly the powerful Supreme Council for the
Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), has been trying to ram through a law
allowing the country's provinces to fuse together into autonomous regions,
such as that which already exists for the Kurds in the north.
The hope for many Shiites is to have an autonomous, oil-rich, Shiite region,
which would leave the Sunnis stranded with few resources in the center and
west of the country.
SCIRI's proposal not only provoked a backlash among the Sunni parties, but
also among secular nationalist politicians as well as within the Shiite
alliance itself.
Firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has 30 seats in the Shiite coalition,
came out against the law as an attempt to divide the country.
The move would also dilute the power of parties like Fadhila which are only
strong in Basra and neighboring Amara. Under the Fadhila's proposal, the
provinces themselves would become autonomous regions.
The controversial law on regions is expected to be debated in parliament
this week.
"There shall be no regional or international repercussions as the specter of
Iraq's division will disappear," said Yaqubi, adding that "the project is
deemed to be in support of the national reconciliation scheme".
Amid these fears of political division, sectarian strife continued across
the capital, with police on Monday reporting the discovery of 10 corpses in
the central Karkh neighborhood and another four in Risafa, also in the
center of Baghdad.
Three other bodies were found near the city of Kut, south of the capital.