Iraq needs reforms to avoid civil war

BAGHDAD – Iraq can only avert a slide to civil war if it takes serious steps to form a national unity government, changes the constitution and halts human rights abuses, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said yesterday.

The Brussels-based think-tank said in a report the bombing of a Shi’ite shrine last Wednesday and reprisals against Sunnis and their mosques were “only the latest and bloodiest indication that Iraq is teetering on the threshold of wholesale disaster”. In an assessment of sectarian tensions in Iraq, ICG urged the international community to prevent a civil war that could destabilise the entire Middle East.It said signs of serious sectarian and ethnic troubles began to surface during last year’s elections in January and December.Iraqi and American officials praised the polls as a victory for democracy that would help stabilise the country.But ICG said the polls highlighted how religion had become a damaging force as Iraqis voted along sectarian lines.”With mosques turned into party headquarters and clerics outfitting themselves as politicians, Iraqis searching for leadership and stability in profoundly uncertain times essentially turned the elections into confessional exercises,” its report said.Sunni participation in the new government, which has yet to be formed two-and-a-half months after Dec.15 elections, is seen by Iraqi and US officials as a crucial step towards defusing the Sunni insurgency against Shi’ite and Kurdish leaders.ICG called on the main Shi’ite and Kurdish lists now in power to establish a genuine national unity government in which Sunnis were given “far more than a token role”.The Sunni minority, dominant under Saddam Hussein, wants changes in the constitution related to federalism, fearing the charter will give Shi’ite and Kurdish regions too much power and control over oil.”As it stands, this constitution, rather than being the glue that binds the country together, has become both the prescription and blueprint for its dissolution,” said ICG.It urged Iraqi leaders to disband militias and crack down on security forces who commit human rights abuses.- Nampa-ReutersIn an assessment of sectarian tensions in Iraq, ICG urged the international community to prevent a civil war that could destabilise the entire Middle East.It said signs of serious sectarian and ethnic troubles began to surface during last year’s elections in January and December.Iraqi and American officials praised the polls as a victory for democracy that would help stabilise the country.But ICG said the polls highlighted how religion had become a damaging force as Iraqis voted along sectarian lines.”With mosques turned into party headquarters and clerics outfitting themselves as politicians, Iraqis searching for leadership and stability in profoundly uncertain times essentially turned the elections into confessional exercises,” its report said.Sunni participation in the new government, which has yet to be formed two-and-a-half months after Dec.15 elections, is seen by Iraqi and US officials as a crucial step towards defusing the Sunni insurgency against Shi’ite and Kurdish leaders.ICG called on the main Shi’ite and Kurdish lists now in power to establish a genuine national unity government in which Sunnis were given “far more than a token role”.The Sunni minority, dominant under Saddam Hussein, wants changes in the constitution related to federalism, fearing the charter will give Shi’ite and Kurdish regions too much power and control over oil.”As it stands, this constitution, rather than being the glue that binds the country together, has become both the prescription and blueprint for its dissolution,” said ICG.It urged Iraqi leaders to disband militias and crack down on security forces who commit human rights abuses.- Nampa-Reuters