BAGHDAD, 12 January 2006 — A row brewed in Iraq yesterday after a top Shiite leader spoke out against amending the country’s federal system, a main demand by minority Sunni Arabs who fear being denied their share of oil sales.
The comment came as political parties prepare to hear the final results of Iraq’s landmark elections held almost a month ago, before they start jostling to form the first long-term government since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, head of the leading Supreme Council for the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (SCIRI), outlined the priorities for the next administration in an address to mark the Eid Al-Adha holiday, extracts of which were broadcast yesterday on the public Iraqia television channel.
He listed “the need not to touch certain elements of the constitution,” among other factors. “The question of the formation of autonomous regions cannot feature in any bargaining,” Hakim said.
Sunni Arabs fear a federal system will further split Iraq, separating the oil-rich Kurdish north and oil-rich Shiite south from the relatively poor Sunni-populated center.
Instead, they want to limit the scope of federalism to the autonomy granted to three Kurdish provinces in the north of the country.
Meanwhile, former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz is ailing and may have only weeks to live, his lawyer said yesterday after visiting the man who was once the public face of Saddam Hussein’s government abroad.
“He is suffering from high blood pressure and he cannot walk properly. His situation is very bad. He is being given 13 pills a day for his blood pressure, diabetes and other illnesses to prevent strokes,” lawyer Badia Aref told Reuters.
