BAGHDAD -A powerful Iraqi politician called on Saturday for the Shia south of the country to become an autonomous region as tribal leaders vowed to work together for peace. Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki warned a gathering of tribal sheikhs from across the war-torn country that Iraq would not be free from foreign occupation until its rival sects and ethnic groups agreed to live together.His initiative led to a “pact of honour” between the traditional leaders to work together to halt Iraq’s slide towards all-out sectarian war.
But at the same time, one of IraqÂ’s most influential politicians called for the vast, oil-rich Shia region south of Baghdad to become a self-governing area stretching from the holy city of Najaf to the port of Basra. Abdel Aziz Al Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said a referendum should be called in the region to endorse a breakaway, an idea which is fiercely opposed by Sunni leaders.
“Our biggest assurance to our people is that federalism be implemented in the centre and south of Iraq,” said Hakim, according to a statement issued by his movement’s office in Najaf on Saturday. “This is a guarantee to our sons and grandsons that injustice will not be revived,” Hakim was quoted as saying, referring to the period under Iraq’s former Sunni ruler Saddam Hussein, during which Shias were persecuted.