Iraq 'needs federalism' to prevent civil war
Last Update: Saturday, August 20, 2005. 8:15am (AEST)
Iraq's national security adviser says the country would descend into civil war if federalism is not entrenched in the constitution.
"Without federalism it means that no community interest has been addressed or fulfilled and therefore different communities will try to find and defend and fight for their rights," Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said.
"I am worried about that. Yes. Absolutely. With a civil war you can't say 'today we don't have a civil war, tomorrow a civil war erupted'. Civil war creeps into the country very gradually."
But underscoring deep divisions in Iraqi politics, several thousand supporters of a Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have marched through a district of the capital Baghdad denouncing federalism, saying it would rip Iraq apart.
Politicians are struggling to overcome sensitive issues such as federalism to meet an extended August 22 deadline for presenting a draft constitution to Parliament.
In Washington, the State Department says US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad is involved in "intensive diplomacy" to help get the constitution drafted before the deadline expires on Monday.
"We are working with the different groups involved in this process to help facilitate compromise and we are being asked to provide ideas and suggestions and we are doing that," a State Department spokesman said.
"He's constantly talking to a lot of people in different combinations, small groups, big groups, looking for common ground and reaching across party lines."
Kurds want to expand autonomy in their de facto state in the north, some Shiites are pushing for their own region in the south, and Sunni Arabs are fiercely opposed to federalism.
January's election boycott left Sunnis with little representation in Parliament and, as a result, limited influence in negotiations over the charter.
But Iraq's Government, led by Shiites and Kurds, wants to draw Sunnis into politics in a bid to defuse the Sunni insurgency so the minority sect has some leverage.
Link Here
Iraq's national security adviser says the country would descend into civil war if federalism is not entrenched in the constitution.
"Without federalism it means that no community interest has been addressed or fulfilled and therefore different communities will try to find and defend and fight for their rights," Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said.
"I am worried about that. Yes. Absolutely. With a civil war you can't say 'today we don't have a civil war, tomorrow a civil war erupted'. Civil war creeps into the country very gradually."
But underscoring deep divisions in Iraqi politics, several thousand supporters of a Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have marched through a district of the capital Baghdad denouncing federalism, saying it would rip Iraq apart.
Politicians are struggling to overcome sensitive issues such as federalism to meet an extended August 22 deadline for presenting a draft constitution to Parliament.
In Washington, the State Department says US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad is involved in "intensive diplomacy" to help get the constitution drafted before the deadline expires on Monday.
"We are working with the different groups involved in this process to help facilitate compromise and we are being asked to provide ideas and suggestions and we are doing that," a State Department spokesman said.
"He's constantly talking to a lot of people in different combinations, small groups, big groups, looking for common ground and reaching across party lines."
Kurds want to expand autonomy in their de facto state in the north, some Shiites are pushing for their own region in the south, and Sunni Arabs are fiercely opposed to federalism.
January's election boycott left Sunnis with little representation in Parliament and, as a result, limited influence in negotiations over the charter.
But Iraq's Government, led by Shiites and Kurds, wants to draw Sunnis into politics in a bid to defuse the Sunni insurgency so the minority sect has some leverage.
Link Here
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 5:54 AM
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