[Marxism] 1.7 million Kurds in Iraq said to ask vote on independence

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

By Barbara Plett

BBC correspondent in Baghdad

"Few of us feel Iraqi any more - a younger generation has grown up in
freedom, learning Kurdish, not Arabic. For the older generation, Iraq is
mostly a bad nightmare." Extract from petition

Kurds want to decide their own future in Iraq

Kurdish activists have collected 1.7 million signatures on a petition
demanding a referendum on the future of northern Iraq's Kurdish region.

For the past decade, Kurds have ruled their own affairs, out of the
reach of former strongman Saddam Hussein.

Their status in the new Iraq has been one of the most contentious issues
for negotiators as they try to finalise an interim constitution.

The petition was handed to Iraqi and American officials.

The referendum campaign has been gaining momentum over the past month.

Memories of repression

Organisers are demanding a vote on whether the Kurdish zone in northern
Iraq should become part of the country in a federal structure or declare
independence.

Referendum advocates said Kurds had strong memories of repression under
Arab-majority governments in Baghdad and did not want to give up the
freedoms gained during more than a decade of autonomy under Western
protection.

Organisers said they have presented the petition to officials in the
Iraqi Governing Council and the occupation authorities, and are waiting
for a response.

Their grass-roots campaign has complicated an issue that has bedevilled
negotiations on an interim Iraqi constitution.

Kurdish leaders have been pressing for self-government in a federal
system but they have met opposition from Arabs, who fear this would be
the first step to the break-up of Iraq.

Organisers of the referendum campaign say the movement is asking only
for the right to be consulted - but popular sentiment is clearly in
support of independence.





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