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IGC member warns of 'massacre'
15/02/2004 18:11 - (SA)
Baghdad - Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) member Mohsen Abdel Hamid told reporters in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Sunday that conducting direct elections in the current conditions in the country will cause a massacre.
"We are working on arriving at alternatives (to elections) before the transfer of power to the Iraqis," Abdel Hamid told a news conference at the end of a surprise visit to the ethnically diverse city.
Abdel Hamid, who is also head of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), said June 30 had become a "sacred" day for Iraqi sovereignty.
"If (transfer) is not achieved, the Americans and the Council will lose their credibility ... this will contribute to the deterioration of the security condition," he said.
"Initial evidence" from the United Nations election experts who visited Iraq last week "indicate that it is not possible to hold elections," he said, adding however that the UN recommendations were not binding.
Abdel Hamid added that alternatives to elections should be agreed upon before the end of February.
He did not specify what form such alternatives might take. Kurdish federal system
The Sunni IGC member also revealed that the new Iraqi constitution will recognise a Kurdish federal system in the provinces of Suleimanyah, Arbil and Dahuk.
"After that, there will be a referendum on whether to include Kirkuk with Kurdistan or not to avoid wars and ethnic struggles," he said.
Kirkuk has a diverse mix of religious and ethnic groups including Kurds. The city is also home to a significant population of Arabs and Turkomans, as well as a number of other minority ethnic groups.
During the reign of the former Ba'ath regime, many Kurdish families were evicted and replaced by Arabs from other Iraqi cities in a process described as "Arabisation."
The fall of Saddam Hussein has seen many Kurdish families returning to Kirkuk to reclaim their homes and rebuild their lives. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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