Rebels Knockout Baghdad Power ahead of Vote

I only hope you pay for it A******.


Most of Baghdad without Power
CNN

Friday 14 October 2005

Insurgents blamed for blackout, attacks on eve of historic vote.
Baghdad - Insurgents knocked out the power in most of Baghdad on Friday night, the eve of the referendum on Iraq's new constitution, the electricity ministry said.

Insurgents blew up a tower on the main power line bringing electricity into Baghdad from the north, cutting electricity and plunging about 70 percent of the capital into darkness, the ministry said. Water also was out in some areas because pumps would not work.

The attack came as Iraqi and US forces increased security to high levels for the referendum, a milestone in the effort to establish a democracy in the post-Saddam Hussein era.

Much more than a permanent government could be at stake in Saturday's vote, including peace between Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions and the future of the insurgency.

A pre-election curfew was in effect Friday night in Baghdad, leaving the streets largely deserted during the blackout.

Repair crews planned to work throughout the night to fix the line and restore power, the ministry said.

The ministry gave no estimate on when power might be restored, although it said power would come back in stages.

Earlier in the day, four offices of Iraq's largest Sunni Arab party were attacked.

The offices targeted Friday belonged to the Iraqi Islamic Party - the Sunni group that struck a compromise deal this week on the constitution with the Kurdish-Shiite coalition of the National Assembly. No casualties were reported in the attacks.

"Those who could not convince people by words, they want to terrify them by these actions," said Ayad al-Samarraie, a party spokesman.

"We will continue in the political process because our main goal is to serve Iraq and Iraqis and to take Iraq to stability instead of leading it to a civil war."

A bomb damaged an Iraqi Islamic Party office in central Baghdad, police said. In Falluja, insurgents threw three hand grenades that damaged another office, the party spokesman said.

Party offices also were attacked in Baiji, south of Baghdad, and Tikrit, north of the capital. In Baiji, attackers threw two hand grenades, causing minor damage to the office, said an official with the Salaheddin province governor's office.

In Tikrit, gunmen also caused minor damage to a party office, the official said.

Also Friday, a roadside bomb apparently targeting a US military convoy exploded in central Baghdad, wounding four Iraqi civilians, including two children, an Iraqi police official said.

A roadside bomb also struck an Iraqi police patrol in Baquba, north of Baghdad, wounding three police, according to the US military.

The attacks came a day after five police were killed and 13 wounded in strikes on four polling sites in Diyala province, north of the capital, the US military said.

Deep Rifts among Factions

The draft constitution is favored by Shiite Arab and Kurdish blocs, which prevail in the transitional government, but disliked by many Sunni Arabs, who dominated Saddam's government and now prevail in the violent insurgency.

The process of drafting the document has been arduous, with the United States in the middle of the work, attempting to bridge gaps among all the country's factions over a range of issues.

The law says that if the constitution passes, an election for a new, permanent government must be held by December 15.

If the constitution is voted down, Iraq politically is back where it was earlier this year when more than 8 million Iraqis braved insurgent violence, went to the polls and voted for lawmakers.

The law says Iraq must dissolve the assembly it elected January 30, and an elections for a new National Assembly must be held by December 15.

The new assembly and a new transitional government must assume office by December 31, and the constitutional-writing process must start over again.

Differences over Federal System

There have been many differences among the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds over the draft, but the main sticking point involves regional autonomy. The issue goes to the heart of the aspirations the three groups have for themselves and the country.

The constitution sets down a federal system, which allows provinces to establish self-governing autonomous regions. This principle is favored by the Kurds and Shiites.

The Kurds already have an autonomous region that was set up after the Persian Gulf War. The Shiite Arabs in recent months have favored autonomy in the south, where they are the predominant group.

But many Sunni Arabs oppose such autonomy and support a stronger federal structure with no autonomous regions.

The reason for the Sunni Arab antipathy is thought to be in part economic. The Kurdish and Shiite regions have oil riches, and Sunnis think autonomy would enable those groups to develop more wealth at the expense of the rest of the country.

The Sunni Arabs account for about 20 percent of the population but are dwarfed in the political process by the Shiite Arabs and Kurds - groups that had minority power in Saddam's regime.

Important Caveat

Even though the voting process says the draft will be "ratified if a majority of the voters in Iraq approve," it carries a serious caveat:

The constitution will not pass if two-thirds of the voters in three or more of the country's 18 provinces reject it, even if the majority of the voters across Iraq approve.

This item was devised with the Kurdish aspirations for the north of the country in mind.

Sunni and Shiite Arabs, who also predominate in provinces across the country, also could use the provision to thwart the process. There are about four Sunni provinces where that scenario is possible.

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