11 August 2006
Iraq’s Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has so far failed to impose his authority over the city council of Basrah while calls for the establishment of an autonomous federation of the south are increasing.
Basrah — the capital of the southern oil province and currently home to all of Iraq’s oil exports — has been wrought by a power struggle among Shiite factions over the past year, leading to deterioration of the security situation in the biggest city of the Shiite-dominated southern Iraq. Al-Maliki imposed a state of emergency in Basrah in June in an attempt to crack down on militias of the antagonist political parties which he called “gangs manipulating security”.
Al-Maliki’s latest measure to impose his government’s authority over Basrah has been met with defiance. The city council this week refused to cooperate with an emergency committee formed by the prime minister to supervise an emergency plan for the city. The decision also stripped the council, which is controlled by the influential Fadhila party, of its security responsibilities and gave much of its administrative and executive authorities to the committee, made up of high-ranking officers. The council refused to budge and said it rejects al-Maliki’s orders, insisting that the only changes needed are at the head of the police force, according to local press reports.
Al-Maliki’s plan for the city was meant to put an end to the power struggle between the council and the local army and police. The power struggle between the groups has led to militias of different parties taking the law into their own hands and imposing a state of terror as political parties fought a turf war over crude oil and product smuggling through the Shatt al-Arab waterway, a lucrative trade that dates back to the sanctions era under Saddam Hussein.
The main factions in Basrah’s power struggle are the armed Badr organization controlled by the Supreme Council, the biggest party in parliament, the governor’s Fadhila party and the movement of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Basrah, whose 1.5 million barrels per day of oil exports account for most of Iraq’s government income, is a big prize for all parties. State South Oil Co. (SOC) is responsible for the oil production and export operations under supervision from the oil ministry in Baghdad. However, complaints of deprivation of services under the previous regime and indifference of the successive Baghdad governments since the 2003 US-led war have led to rising calls for autonomy among southern Shiites.
Certain Shiite parties in the south have further been emboldened by the Kurds’ systematic efforts to reinforce their autonomous status within the anticipated federal state of Iraq even before parliament votes on dividing the country. The Kurds went even further by issuing their own petroleum law this week before the Iraqi constitution is finalized.
The idea to create two federal states in central and southern Iraq is being aggressively promoted by the Supreme Council headed by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. A divided Iraq, they argue, is the only way to deal with sectarian strife. A federal region of the south with Basrah as its capital would create the richest federal state which would have total control over oil exploitation and consequently the most powerful region in Iraq.
However, some Shiites, including the Fadhila party and the followers of al-Sadr, are opposed to the partitioning of Iraq, which they fear would link southern Iraq further to Iran.
By Ruba Husari, Dubai
(Published in International Oil Daily Aug. 11, 2006)