Iraq: "No! No! to division," "Yes! Yes! to unity"
Yahoo-Reuters: Iraq's national security adviser said on Friday Iraq would descend into civil war if federalism was 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 told Reuters in an interview.
"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 Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr 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.
Kurds want to expand autonomy in their de facto state in the north, some Shi'ites 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 Shi'ites and Kurds, wants to draw Sunnis into politics in a bid to defuse the Sunni insurgency so the minority sect has some leverage.
GROWING SHI'TE TENSIONS
Differences emerging among Shi'ites could further complicate efforts to strike a deal.
"Federalism is very good for the Sunnis as well. Just imagine we have three provinces in the (Sunni region) triangle coming together in one region and that region enjoys all the rights of Kurdistan for example," said Rubaie, a member of the Shi'ite Dawa party, part of the ruling coalition.
"It is a federal system we are after and I think this is the only insurance policy for the unity of Iraq."
Supporters of Sadr, who has led two uprisings against U.S. and Iraqi forces, gathered in one of their largest protests in recent months to reject federalism.
"No! No! to division," "Yes! Yes! to unity" chanted the crowds as they marched through the poor Sadr City neighborhood of northeastern Baghdad and Khadamiya and Bayaa, two other mainly Shi'ite districts. Read more
db: There is little evidence to indicate that carving up Iraq will win the approval of the insurgents; Sadr and his supporters oppose it as do most Sunnis. The adoption of a united front by those who see a federal Iraq as a sectarian invention of the occupier - and for his benefit alone - would be a difficult alliance to combat.
"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 told Reuters in an interview.
"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 Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr 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.
Kurds want to expand autonomy in their de facto state in the north, some Shi'ites 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 Shi'ites and Kurds, wants to draw Sunnis into politics in a bid to defuse the Sunni insurgency so the minority sect has some leverage.
GROWING SHI'TE TENSIONS
Differences emerging among Shi'ites could further complicate efforts to strike a deal.
"Federalism is very good for the Sunnis as well. Just imagine we have three provinces in the (Sunni region) triangle coming together in one region and that region enjoys all the rights of Kurdistan for example," said Rubaie, a member of the Shi'ite Dawa party, part of the ruling coalition.
"It is a federal system we are after and I think this is the only insurance policy for the unity of Iraq."
Supporters of Sadr, who has led two uprisings against U.S. and Iraqi forces, gathered in one of their largest protests in recent months to reject federalism.
"No! No! to division," "Yes! Yes! to unity" chanted the crowds as they marched through the poor Sadr City neighborhood of northeastern Baghdad and Khadamiya and Bayaa, two other mainly Shi'ite districts. Read more
db: There is little evidence to indicate that carving up Iraq will win the approval of the insurgents; Sadr and his supporters oppose it as do most Sunnis. The adoption of a united front by those who see a federal Iraq as a sectarian invention of the occupier - and for his benefit alone - would be a difficult alliance to combat.
posted by exoplanet at 7:01 PM
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