Southern provinces move for self-rule sparks nationwide fears
This is what America and its coalition military, are dying for!
Nine Iraqi provinces have taken yet another step to consolidate their efforts to establish a semi-independent region, a move many see as the harbinger for the disintegration of the country.
On Thursday, security and police leaders in southern Iraq held a meeting in Najaf in which they publicly called for the creation of an autonomous region modeled on the Kurdish self-rule administration in the north.
The security chiefs have agreed to set up a joint deterrent force to fight what they described as a surge in “terrorist” attacks on areas dominated by Muslim Shiites.
“I hope this meeting paves the way for the setting up a unified security system that will eventually lead to the holding of further meetings on how to coordinate economic, political and social matters for the creation of fully autonomous region,” said Abdulhussein Abtan, Najaf’s deputy governor.
Under the new constitution, the setting of federal regions in the country is permissible but the creation of such entity would place up to 70% of the country’s massive oil reserves in the hands of Iraqi Shiites.
The oilfields in Basra currently produce the bulk of Iraqi oil exports estimated at around 1.5 million barrels a day.
The resource-poor central provinces like Baghdad, Salahiddin and Anbar – the main strongholds of the anti-U.S. insurgency – are certain to resist the move.
Already the region has distanced itself from the Shiite-dominated transitional central government in Baghdad, although it is dominated by the Shiites.
Militia groups of major Shiite factions wiled enormous power and have infiltrated the rank and file of the newly established civil, security and military organs.
Link Here
Vice-President says new army built ‘on sectarian affiliation’
Azzaman, December 10, 2005
Vice-President Ghazi al-Yawer has said the current army was divided and was more loyal to the sects and factions it belonged to than the homeland.
“Iraq as a national entity is disintegrating in the face of the emergence of factional and sectarian entities,” he warned.
Yawer was Iraq’s first interim president following the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.
Yawer was critical of the way the new army is being formed, saying Iraqi troop formations have deepened divisions in the society.
“The establishment of the new army is based on sectarian affiliation. In fact it has solidified sectarianism and further divided the sons of one nation,” he said.
He warned the country was moving on the path of “theocratic rule” in which senior clerics dominate the political system.
“The biggest tragedy is if religious figures attain power or the system is built on religious tenets,” he said.
He also said it was wrong to leave “the fate of the country” in the hands of one single sect as “this will lead to schism in the Iraqi society with far reaching consequences.”
Link Here
Nine Iraqi provinces have taken yet another step to consolidate their efforts to establish a semi-independent region, a move many see as the harbinger for the disintegration of the country.
On Thursday, security and police leaders in southern Iraq held a meeting in Najaf in which they publicly called for the creation of an autonomous region modeled on the Kurdish self-rule administration in the north.
The security chiefs have agreed to set up a joint deterrent force to fight what they described as a surge in “terrorist” attacks on areas dominated by Muslim Shiites.
“I hope this meeting paves the way for the setting up a unified security system that will eventually lead to the holding of further meetings on how to coordinate economic, political and social matters for the creation of fully autonomous region,” said Abdulhussein Abtan, Najaf’s deputy governor.
Under the new constitution, the setting of federal regions in the country is permissible but the creation of such entity would place up to 70% of the country’s massive oil reserves in the hands of Iraqi Shiites.
The oilfields in Basra currently produce the bulk of Iraqi oil exports estimated at around 1.5 million barrels a day.
The resource-poor central provinces like Baghdad, Salahiddin and Anbar – the main strongholds of the anti-U.S. insurgency – are certain to resist the move.
Already the region has distanced itself from the Shiite-dominated transitional central government in Baghdad, although it is dominated by the Shiites.
Militia groups of major Shiite factions wiled enormous power and have infiltrated the rank and file of the newly established civil, security and military organs.
Link Here
Vice-President says new army built ‘on sectarian affiliation’
Azzaman, December 10, 2005
Vice-President Ghazi al-Yawer has said the current army was divided and was more loyal to the sects and factions it belonged to than the homeland.
“Iraq as a national entity is disintegrating in the face of the emergence of factional and sectarian entities,” he warned.
Yawer was Iraq’s first interim president following the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.
Yawer was critical of the way the new army is being formed, saying Iraqi troop formations have deepened divisions in the society.
“The establishment of the new army is based on sectarian affiliation. In fact it has solidified sectarianism and further divided the sons of one nation,” he said.
He warned the country was moving on the path of “theocratic rule” in which senior clerics dominate the political system.
“The biggest tragedy is if religious figures attain power or the system is built on religious tenets,” he said.
He also said it was wrong to leave “the fate of the country” in the hands of one single sect as “this will lead to schism in the Iraqi society with far reaching consequences.”
Link Here
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 12:57 AM
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