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Kurdish leaders urge Shiites, former Baathists to join reconciliation drive
- ARBIL, Iraq, March 26 (AFP) Two leading Iraqi Kurdish leaders on Saturday set up a National Reconciliation Council (NRC) and urged the Shiite majority, former Baathist officials and some of their former military foes to join.
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Israel: fantasy and reality
- The Bush administration`s criticism of the killing of Yassin as `very troubling` may have sounded mild - but considering that this is an election year, when presidents are keen to keep the Jewish lobby in America on board, and that Hamas is close to the top of America`s list of outlaws, it is striking that America expressed concern, rather than congratulations, about Israel`s actions. It has been the USA telling Israel to get the settlers out, and the USA making it very clear that the peace process is its only option for the future.
Many Physicians in Iraq Forced to Participate in Torture
- Under threats of murder to themselves or family members, many physicians in Iraq were coerced into participating in torture and other human rights abuses since 1988, according to an article by Physicians for Human Rights. (Medscape March 23, 2004)
Two articles on recent events in Syria:
SYRIA FACES UPRISINGS IN KURDISH AREAS
- `The fact there is a strong Kurdish movement emerging in Syria is an interesting development. This is certainly a result of Kurds in Syria seeing what the Kurds in Iraq have accomplished.`
and
Rights for the Kurds
- A perfect opportunity has arisen for President Bush to prove to the people of the Middle East that his policy in their region is about democratization and reform and not about pure economic or political interest.
Syria: Address Grievances Underlying Kurdish Unrest
- "Syria's Kurds have endured decades of severe discrimination under Ba'ath party rule," said Joe Stork, acting executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.
Shiites May Demand Lifting of Limits on Their Power
- The disputes go to the core issue in Iraq, how the inevitability of Shiite majority rule can be made palatable to the Sunni minority that has been dominant here since the 1920's, and to other groups, principally the Kurds.
Iraqis to Sign Constitution Despite Shi'ite Doubts
March 7, 2004
"We will sign the interim constitution Monday as it stands," Mohammed Hussein Bahr al-Uloum, the son and chief adviser to Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum, the current president of the Iraqi Governing Council, told Reuters Sunday.
"We don't want the rest of the Council to fear that the Shi'ites want to demolish the whole process. We don't want them to fear that the Shi'ites are trying to control things."
Iraqi Shiites Fail to Sign Pact After Cleric Balks
March 6 2004
BAGHDAD, March 5 - Leaders of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority balked at approving an interim constitution just hours before it was scheduled to be signed on Friday when the country's top Shiite cleric rejected provisions in the document aimed at protecting minority rights, aides to several council members said.
Historic Iraqi concord
Marathon talks in Baghdad that ended in the early hours of Monday will go down in history for the creation of a consensus-built road map that can lead the country toward a modern democratic state.
Kurds Reject Key Parts of Proposed Iraq Constitution
BAGHDAD, Feb. 20 - Kurdish leaders are refusing to accept key provisions of an interim Iraqi constitution drafted by the Bush administration and instead are demanding far broader autonomy, including the right to control military forces in Kurdish areas and the freedom to reject laws passed by the national government, Kurdish officials said Friday.
Kurdistan Region's Constitutional Proposal
February 19, 2004
Iraqi Kurdistan region submitted its constitutional proposal regarding the proposed Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law codifying the federal status of Kurdistan. The document was submitted to the Iraqi Governing Council by the President of the Kurdistan National Assembly (parliament) Roj Shaways on behalf of the Kurdistan region's legislature and the two principal Kurdistan political parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
Iraq Governing Council will get sovereignty if no early polls: Talabani
Talabani said Sistani did not comment specifically on his demands for early elections, but made general remarks on democracy. "The "sayyid" (Sistani) is an embodiment of democracy," said the Kurdish leader.
U.N. Warns Against a Hasty Vote, but Iraqis Address the Issue
...after two recent meetings with him, Shiite and Sunni Iraqis representing some of the intellectual and tribal elite came away convinced that the cleric is flexible on the system and timetable of elections.
Moreover, they said, the meetings signal a willingness on the part of Ayatollah Sistani and Sunni leaders to try to thwart sectarian strife, as other politicians and clerics appeal to religion and ethnicity in advancing their demands.
U.N. Official Says Early Iraq Elections Impossible (13/02/04)
Iraqi Kurdistan and the transition: post-Coalition Provisional Authority
By Barham Salih
On January 23, 2004, Barham Salih addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. In January 2001, Dr. Salih became prime minister of the Kurdish regional government in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. Having joined the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Iraq while it was an underground movement, he left for the United Kingdom and served as the movement's spokesman from 1985 to 1991. From 1991 to 2001, he served as the PUK representative to North America. The following is a summary of his remarks.
Kurdistan Parliament & US Congress Members Reject Baghdad's Shari'a Law
IRBIL, Feb. 5 - The Kurdistan parliament decided today not to recognize a Governing Council decision( IGC 137) to change rules on divorce and other family issues - a move that outraged some Iraqi women who saw it as a serious setback for women's rights here.
David McKnight: Soft spot for Iraqi thugs
February 9, 2004
HAVING mobilised the biggest demonstrations seen in a generation against the invasion of Iraq, the Left and anti-war activists now face a dilemma as post-war Iraq unfolds.
Secular parties in Iraq join to push nonreligious rule
BY HANNAH ALLAM
January 30, 2004
- BAGHDAD, Iraq
- Six of Iraq's secular political parties met Thursday to cement a new alliance aimed at preventing a religious government from coming to power in Iraq.
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From "The Daily Star" (Lebanon)
It is ironic that the very group that was expected to push Iraq toward fundamentalism is leading the call for democracy.
Iraqi Militias Resisting U.S. Pressure to Disband
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 8 - Several of the biggest political parties in Iraq say they are determined to keep their well-armed militias despite American opposition to the idea.
They contend that the militias remain necessary in light of the lack of security throughout the country.
Having had scant success so far in persuading the militias to disband, occupation officials are searching for a new policy that will help disarm the groups, whose members total in the tens of thousands, said a senior military official.
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