|
Iraqi parties agree to debate federalism bill
 Iraq's fractious ethnic and religious parliamentary groups agreed Sunday to open debate on a contentious Shiite-proposed draft legislation that will allow the creation of federal regions in Iraq, politicians said.The agreement came after a compromise was reached with Sunni Arabs on setting up a parliamentary committee to amend Iraq's constitution, a key demand by the minority. The committee will be set up Monday and the federalism bill will be read to the body a day later, Sunni and Shiite politicians said. The deal opens the way for Iraq's Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds to move ahead politically and break a two-week political deadlock that threatened to further sour relations between the communities. If left unresolved, the deadlock could have further shaken Iraq's fragile democracy and led to more sectarian violence. Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-09-24 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=166744 |