Shiites Press for a Partition of Iraq (over Sunni objections)

[ProSense]

Shiites Press for a Partition of Iraq

Creating federal regions would curb the violence, backers say. Others see it as a grab at oil wealth.

By Borzou Daragahi, Times Staff Writer
August 9, 2006

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Leaders of Iraq's powerful Shiite Muslim political bloc have begun aggressively promoting a radical plan to partition the country as a way of separating the warring sects. Some Iraqis are even talking about dividing the capital, with the Tigris River as a kind of Berlin Wall.

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But others push a plan by Abdelaziz Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a political party. Hakim advocates the creation of a nine-province district in the largely peaceful south, home to 60% of the country's proven oil reserves.

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Iraq's oil is concentrated in the north and south; much of the Sunni-dominated west and northwest is desolate desert, devoid of oil and gas.

"Controlling these areas will create a grand fortune that they can exploit," said Adnan Dulaimi, a leading Sunni Arab politician. "Their motive is that they are thirsty for control and power."

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Although growing numbers of Iraqis acknowledge that their country is in an undeclared civil war, a partition would "actually lead to increasing violence and sectarian displacement," said Hussein Athab, a political scientist and former lawmaker in Basra.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-partition9aug09,0,1199672,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines