Tempers fray as Iraqi lawmakers discuss federalism

BAGHDAD, Sept 7 (Reuters) Iraq's parliament abruptly adjourned today after several Shi'ite lawmakers tried to force debate on the divisive issue of federalism, which Sunnis fear could lead to the breakup of the oil-rich country.

Saleh al-Mutlaq of the Sunni National Dialogue Front said afterwards that parliamentary security guards had been summoned into the debating chamber amid fears that lawmakers' heated exchanges could turn violent.

The parliament faces a deadline in the coming weeks for determining how regions can win autonomy under a federal constitution passed last October despite opposition from the once-dominant Sunni minority. There is some debate on exactly when the deadline should be considered to fall.

Officials in the dominant Shi'ite Alliance bloc said yesterday they had completed a draft of their proposal for a mechanism by which provinces could form autonomous regions.

Sunnis, concentrated in Iraq's resource-poor central and western provinces, are opposed to such a move, fearing it would seal their political doom by giving Shi'ites in the south and Kurds in the north an unfair share of Iraq's oil.

Shi'ite lawmakers tried to force discussion and a vote on their proposal during today's sometimes rowdy session, but the speaker of parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni, angrily cut them off, saying he had not received the proposal.

''This is an insult to me,'' he told lawmakers. ''This proposal should have been submitted ... two days ago. I just heard about it today.'' After he adjourned the session, he was due to meet leaders of the political blocs to discuss scheduling the federalism issue, a source in the parliamentary administration said.

HEATED DEBATE Several legislators said parliament should not discuss the the potentially explosive issue in open session, while others said the heated debate would send the wrong message to Iraqis.

''I don't have a problem with Iraq being a federal country, but when we discuss this issue in such a charged atmosphere we will be giving a negative impression to the public,'' Mehdi al- Hafidh, a member of the secular Iraqi List.

Television cover from the debating chamber, to which the media have no direct access, was cut off shortly afterwards.

Mutlaq said the state broadcaster Iraqiya had been ''kicked out of the session at a time when it was supposed to continue its live coverage so the Iraqi people could see how their leaders are disagreeing inside parliament''.

Iraq is gripped by communal bloodshed between the once politically dominant minority Sunnis and now ascendant majority Shi'ites that has killed thousands. There are also tensions between Arabs and largely autonomous Kurds in the north.

Some diplomats have said privately the federalism debate might be better shelved while the government seeks to defuse the insurgency and sectarian tensions and resuscitate the war-battered economy.

But Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the powerful Shi'ite leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, has been forcing the pace, calling in recent days for Shi'ites to form their own region in the south and for a vote on the issue.

Under the constitution, provincial administrations will be given a strong level of autonomy, including the right to form regional governments involving several provinces which will be allowed to set up their own security structures.

REUTERS SP PC1738