Monday, Aug 15, 2005
Iraqi clerics demand "Shiastan" in south
Rory Carroll
Sunnis fear country will split if Shias and Kurds control oil wells and leave them with the "sands of Anbar"
BAGHDAD: Shia leaders in Iraq demanded an autonomous region for the Shia-dominated south on Thursday, raising the prospect of an oil-rich fiefdom dominated by conservative Muslim clerics.
The head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the main ruling parties, has called for the creation of a federal southern state in the new national Constitution.
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim used a rally in the Shia holy city of Najaf to make one of the boldest pitches yet for a "Shiastan" encompassing the Gulf oilfields and almost half of Iraq's 26 million population. "Regarding federalism, we think that it is necessary to form one entire region in the south," he told tens of thousands of chanting supporters. Hadi al-Amery, head of the party's militia, the Badr Organisation, echoed the call for a Shia version of the autonomy enjoyed by Kurds in the north, declaring: "Federalism has to be in all of Iraq."
The SCIRI's cleric leaders have strong ties to Iran's theocracy and dominate the Shia bloc, which rules in coalition.
All sides accept that Kurds will retain the autonomy they have enjoyed since the 1991 Gulf war. But the drive to mirror that with autonomy for the south has encountered fierce opposition.
Sunnis fear that Iraq will disintegrate, or at least fracture, if Shias and Kurds control the oil wells and leave Sunnis with only the "sands of Anbar", a vast, barren province. Sunnis were a dominant minority under the deposed president, Saddam Hussein, and Sunni fighters are driving the militancy.
Militants' threat
The Shia Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, is keen to draw them into the political process, and this is one reason he opposes southern autonomy.
"The idea of a Shia region is unacceptable to us," his spokesman said. Meanwhile, Iraq's Al-Qaeda group vowed to kill anyone involved in drafting the Constitution. The group, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, says that Sharia law should be the only legislation to govern Iraq.
- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
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