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| Iraq |
| Thousands demand separate region for Iraq's Basra |
| 2008-12-28 |
| BASRA, Iraq - Thousands of protesters in Iraq's southern oil city of Basra demanded their own federal region on Saturday, akin to minority Kurds' peaceful, prosperous enclave in the country's north. Some three thousand people took to the streets in mainly Shia Basra, demanding a referendum on whether the city and surrounding province might become a semi-autonomous state. While the odds appeared long that such a bid could succeed, it reflects Iraqis' deep discontent with the government in Baghdad and highlights the power struggle unfolding in a nation that is home to a volatile mix of religions and ethnicities. Some in Basra, which produces three-quarters of Iraq's oil, see themselves marginalised by successive Baghdad governments since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003 and aspire to the same status as Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdistan, the northern region that has enjoyed de-facto autonomy since 1991, has its own parliament and security forces, but receives budget revenues from Baghdad. Supporters of a referendum on Basra's fate complained they were getting short shrift from Iraq's Electoral Commission, which has been collecting signatures from among Basra's 1.4 million voters needed to hold such a referendum. According to the Iraqi constitution, any of its 18 provinces can hold such a referendum if it can muster signatures from 10 percent of voters. Efforts to gather signatures began on Dec. 14, after Wa'il Abd al-Latif, a parliamentarian from Basra, presented a petition calling for a referendum. Residents can participate in the signature drive until Jan. 14. Only 15,400 signatures have been collected so far. Latif accused the Electoral Ccommission of improperly handling the signature drive. "It is not independent," he said. Basra has made a few failed bids for autonomy since it was an Ottoman province. |
| Posted by:Steve White |