Shias win vote on regions

Iraq: Abdel Aziz Hakim and his pro-Tehran Shia parliamentary faction have won a major victory as Iraqi legislators approved a bill permitting the formation of autonomous federal regions in Iraq.

Mr Hakim, who campaigned for this project over the past year, managed to garner 138-140 votes, the slender majority required for adoption by the 275-member national assembly. The law lays down that any province can request a referendum on joining a region if one-third of the province's legislators call for a vote.

The vote is likely to be contested by the Sunni bloc, the faction led by radical cleric Moqtada al- Sadr, and Fadhila, which control 125 seats. Mr Hakim's Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, its independent Shia ally, and the Kurds, have a combined total of only 121 votes. However it seems that 17-19 members of the rival Shia Dawa, the party of prime minister Nuri al- Malaki, backed the legislation in spite of previous opposition.

Sunnis, Sadrists and Fadhila boycotted the assembly session in the expectation that a majority of Dawa's deputies would follow suit, thereby denying the Supreme Council a quorum.

The Sunnis feel betrayed. They agreed to stand for the assembly and vote in last December's parliamentary poll because they were promised that there would be a review of the federal constitution before such legislation was introduced.

While a committee was appointed last month, the review has not begun. The Sadrists and Fadhila are also angry because they backed Mr Maliki for prime minister against the council's nominee.

Although implementation of the bill is not due for 18 months, the measure boosts the influence of the Supreme Council, which was founded, funded and armed by Tehran, particularly in the south where Mr Hakim has been vying for power with Mr Sadr, a populist and Iraqi Arab nationalist who opposes a close connection with Tehran.

Mr Hakim's plan for a Shia super-region of nine southern provinces could gain credibility now that the means to achieve it has been secured. Furthermore, a majority of Shias may shift to sectarian regionalism if Sunni-Shia violence continues to rise. The adoption of this law could ensure that this will happen by deepening the alienation of Sunni Arabs, 70 per cent of whom already back armed resistance to a regime which Sunnis increasingly see as an Iran-connected Shia dictatorship imposed by US force of arms.