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Rebel
Kurds Plan to Split Iraq into Two Regions
LONDON,
July 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Kurdistan Democratic
Party, one of the two main Kurdish groups controlling the self-rule
area in northern Iraq, has proposed a model for a post-Saddam state
that would guarantee the Kurds their own federal region and the rights
of the country’s ethnic and religious groups, U.K. daily newspaper,
the Guardian, reported Wednesday, July 10.
The
paper said that one of the two main Kurdish groups controlling the
self-rule area in northern Iraq has drawn up a draft constitution
which has gained wide currency among the four main Iraqi opposition
groups and is being treated seriously in Washington.
The
plan, detailed in a document seen by the Guardian, would divide Iraq
into two federal regions - an Arab region covering the center and
south of Iraq, and an Iraqi Kurdistan region to the north. Each region
would have its own assembly and president, but Baghdad would maintain
control of internal security and a federal army.
The
document is being seen as an attempt by opposition forces in Iraq to
forge a local solution to the problem of governing the country should
the current regime fall or be removed, the paper said.
Until
now, opposition groups within Iraq have been wary of taking part in
any U.S.-backed campaign to remove Saddam without clear guarantees for
their safety and future status, it added.
The
constitution’s commitment to “a republican, democratic,
parliamentary, pluralistic system” for Iraq also represents a desire
to head off any U.S. thoughts about replacing the current dictator in
Baghdad with another one.
The
Kurdistan Democratic party, which drawn up the draft constitution, is
led by Massoud Barzani.
Hoshyar
Zebari, the KDP’s head of international relations, said: “Given
the country’s complex ethnic and religious make-up, Kurds believe it
is vital for there to be an agreement among the Iraqi people about
what sort of country they want. Otherwise there could be chaos
following any regime change.”
According
to the Guardian, the draft constitution describes in detail the
character of the federal Kurdish entity and its relationship with the
central government in Baghdad, but does not prescribe a structure for
the Arab federal region.
“That
is up to the Arab communities to work out for themselves,” Zebari
said.
Under
the plan, each region would have its own constitution and president,
and would establish a parliament, freely elected in a secret
ballot.
A
federal assembly would sit in Baghdad, where a president, elected for
a maximum of two five-year terms, would preside over a council of
ministers accountable to parliament.
In
Baghdad, the federal authorities would have the power to declare war
and make peace, decide foreign policy and diplomatic representation,
sign international treaties and agreements, set general economic
strategy, preside over the country’s oil wealth and its nuclear
energy program, and issue federal legislation, the Guardian said.
But
the regional administration in Kurdistan, which would have the
oil-rich city of Kirkuk as its capital, would also have wide-ranging
powers at its disposal, including taxation and initiating
international relations.
The
most influential anti-Saddam alliance, the KDP, the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq
(representing the majority Shi‘a community ) and the Iraqi National
Accord are to discuss the plan when they meet U.S. officials in Europe
later this summer, it said.
But
the plans for a federal Iraq face huge difficulties among Iraq’s
anxious neighbors.
The
paper said that Turkey is alarmed about the establishment of a Kurdish
entity on its borders, fearful that it will stir up its own harried
Kurdish population.
Ankara
is also opposed to the city of Kirkuk becoming the capital of the
Iraqi Kurdistan region.
A
U.S. state department official who follows Iraqi affairs closely told
the Guardian on condition of anonymity: “It is an elegant and
equitable solution to the puzzle of how to maintain Iraqi territorial
and political unity after a regime change. And we don’t have
anything else on the table.”
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