Democratic Senator Joe Biden of Delaware: His plan for a 'soft

partition' of Iraq has broad bipartisan support, highlighting his

foreign-policy influence in the U.S. Senate. But in Iraq, support

for the plan appears far less widespread.

Sotal Iraq, Iraq

Iraqis Sound Off on Joe Biden

Plan to Partition their Nation

"The partitioning of the country on the basis of ethnic or sectarian divisions is completely unacceptable, since it would terminate the modern state of Iraq."

-- Satar Al-Karbuli, MP with the Iraq Accord Front [Sunni]

"The amendment passed by the U.S. Senate is fairly open-ended, and would give Iraqis a vast opportunity to choose the kind of federalism they want."

-- Hamid Rashid Mualla, MP with the United Iraqi Alliance [Shiite]

Translated By James Jacobson

September 27, 2007

Iraq - Sotal Iraq - Original Article (Arabic)

An American Senate resolution calling for the establishment of three ethnic and sectarian-based autonomous regions has sparked differing reactions inside the Iraqi political arena, ranging from outright rejection to deep circumspection, chiefly due to the perception that the issue of Iraqi federalism is one for Iraqis alone to decide.

[Editor's Note: The Biden Amendment, which the Senate passed on Wednesday by a vote of 75-23, is a non-binding 'sense of the Senate' resolution that was attached to the defense authorization bill. It has no legal authority.]

Vice President Adil Abdul Mehdi [a Shiite ] confirmed at a press conference in Cairo that research into the best kind of federal system for Iraq is under way, and that a range of possibilities are under discussion. According to the Vice President, one scenario involves a federal system similar to United Arab Emirates, which consists of a group of autonomous regions within a unified country.

In Baghdad, however, Iraqi National Party chief Mithal al-Alusi [a secular nationalist alliance made up of Sunnis and Shiites led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi ] criticized several Iraqi politicians without naming them, for helping Democratic Senator Joseph Biden formulate his program, which was adopted by the American Senate on Wednesday.

In a press conference at his party’s headquarters on Thursday, Al-Alusi called on the President and Iraq's three major Parliamentary blocs to quickly define their positions on this project.

Saleh al-Mutlaq, the President of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue [a non-sectarian coalition that wants to end the presence of foreign troops and to rebuild Iraqi government institutions. ], asked the United Nations and Arab League to denounce Senator Biden’s program, describing it as a pathway to a civil war in Iraq.

The Iraq Accord Front [originally a coalition of three Sunni parties that have supported participation in the political process ] renewed its rejection of any draft resolution that seeks to divide Iraq along sectarian lines, and Accord Front deputy Omar Abdul Satar Al-Karbuli reiterated that the coalition has grave reservations about establishing what he described as “federalized sectarian regions.”

In an interview with Radio Sawa, Al-Karbuli said that the Front supports plans to establish “autonomous regions that are greatly decentralized at the provincial level, while maintaining a strong, centralized state. But the partition of the country on the basis of ethnic or sectarian divisions is completely unacceptable, since it would terminate the modern state of Iraq. Such a project would be dangerous and poisonous.”

Member of Parliament Hamid Rashid Mualla of the United Iraqi Alliance [a broad-based coalition of over 20 groups, dominated by the two major Shiite parties ] emphasized the right of the Iraqi people to choose a system that suits them, saying during an interview with Radio Sawa that, "the amendment passed by the U.S. Senate is fairly open-ended, and would give Iraqis a vast opportunity to choose the kind of federalism they want."

The non-binding resolution project that was adopted by the American Senate on Wednesday calls for dividing Iraq in three entities: Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish, under the umbrella of a united central government. 

Senator Joseph Biden emphasized that the project isn't perfect, but that in his opinion because of the sectarian conflict, it's the best choice now available.

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