ar032
10-11-2006, 10:54 AM
Iraqi parliament approves federal law
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament on Wednesday approved a law that sets out the mechanics of forming federal regions, an issue Sunni minority leaders fear might tear the country apart in sectarian civil war.
The law, backed by some Shi'ite majority leaders who have been keen to set up a big, autonomous region in their oil-rich south, was passed in a session boycotted by the Accordance Front, the largest political bloc of the Sunni minority.
Hostility between rival communities over federalism -- one of post-war Iraq's most sensitive issues -- is threatening the ability of the four-month-old national unity government to rein in mounting sectarian and ethnic violence.
Legislators loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the smaller Shi'ite Fadhila Party stayed away from Wednesday's vote, showing Shi'ite support for federalism is not unanimous.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-10-11T134103Z_01_IBO145418_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-FEDERALISM.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C1_%5bFeed%5d-9
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament on Wednesday approved a law that sets out the mechanics of forming federal regions, an issue Sunni minority leaders fear might tear the country apart in sectarian civil war.
The law, backed by some Shi'ite majority leaders who have been keen to set up a big, autonomous region in their oil-rich south, was passed in a session boycotted by the Accordance Front, the largest political bloc of the Sunni minority.
Hostility between rival communities over federalism -- one of post-war Iraq's most sensitive issues -- is threatening the ability of the four-month-old national unity government to rein in mounting sectarian and ethnic violence.
Legislators loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the smaller Shi'ite Fadhila Party stayed away from Wednesday's vote, showing Shi'ite support for federalism is not unanimous.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-10-11T134103Z_01_IBO145418_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-FEDERALISM.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C1_%5bFeed%5d-9