Iraq parliament chaos exposes deep rifts amid new violence

[Eduard Ohanesian of Romania’s Libera Newspaper has been taken hostage
in Iraq]

Agence France Presse
31 March 2005

BAGHDAD – The breakdown of a key Iraqi parliament meeting has raised
fears of a delay in drawing up a permanent constitution because of the
failure of Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis to agree on a government.

But in a sign of growing tensions, the US State Department acknowledged
Wednesday that a US citizen had been taken hostage earlier this week in
Iraq along with three Romanian journalists.

As Iraqi political players squandered momentum generated by Iraq’s
January 30 elections, violence raged as six civilians, including an
elderly woman and a child, died in a firefight between rebels and US
soldiers in Mosul.

Iraq’s ethnic and religious groups were huddled in meetings as they
attempted to resuscitate a political process that has been dogged by
infighting two months after the country’s first free vote in 50 years.

Unable to decide on a cabinet or parliament speaker, questions abounded
whether the country’s volatile communal mix could write a permanent
legal charter by mid-August, the deadline set in the interim
constitution (TAL).

“There are certain groups that want to see the TAL as the basis of the
new constitution. If that is agreed upon it will make our job much
easier to finish it by August. But probably we’ll see some big
differences,” said Sunni MP Hajem al-Hassani.

He feared key national identity issues would rear their heads again over
the spring and summer.

“State and religion will definitely come up again, federalism will come
up again, some of the touchy issues will crop up. Personally I think
we’ll see an extension.”

The TAL calls for the permanent constitution to be completed by
mid-August and put to a national referendum in October, but allows an
extra half-year for drafting the document if the sides cannot reach
agreement.

Despite MPs’ eagerness to present a united face to the public, Tuesday’s
parliamentary session ended instead in catcalls and bitter divisions
over the failure to choose a parliament speaker.

As prominent figures including Prime Minister Iyad Allawi bolted from
the proceedings and the media was ejected, parliament adjourned the
session–only the second since the January 30 election–until Sunday.

The debacle brought to the surface the power struggle among the Shiites,
Kurds and Sunnis that has dragged on in closed-door negotiations since
the watershed election that saw millions vote despite security fears.

The failure of politicians to put aside their differences in the face of
a deadly insurgency and a war-shattered economy has stirred anger on the
streets and elicited warnings that parliament risks losing its legitimacy.

In Washington, the State Department declined to release any details on
the American held hostage. But according to Romanian media, he is an
Iraqi-American businessman, Mohammed Munaf, who financed the travel of
the Romanians and acted as their guide in Baghdad.

“We call for the immediate and safe release of all hostages in Iraq,
including the American citizen and the three Romanian journalists who
were taken on Monday,” Steven Pike, a State Department spokesman, told AFP.

Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera showed the three Romanian
journalists in the company of another individual taken hostage by an
unidentified group in Iraq.

Two hooded men were seen pointing their weapons at the four visibly
frightened hostages, who were seated on the ground against the backdrop
of a floral carpet.

The tape was the first apparent confirmation that the three Romanians
were abducted, after the authorities in Bucharest initially declined to
confirm that they were victims of a kidnapping.

Marie-Jeanne Ion, 32, a reporter for Prima TV, her cameraman Sorin
Miscoci, 30, *and Eduard Ohanesian, 37, of the Romania Libera newspaper
were reported missing by the Romanian foreign ministry earlier this week.*

Meanwhile, 18 Iraqis were killed in violence across the country on
Wednesday, including six people who died during clashes between US
troops and insurgents in the northern city of Mosul, security and
medical sources said.

An Opel car chased by US military vehicles was headed toward a US-Iraqi
checkpoint in Mosul when a firefight broke out, said eyewitness Abdel
Rahman Jarallah.

Three men and women were also wounded during the fight, he said.

Ninety-minutes later, gunmen in the central al-Rifia district of Mosul
shot police Captain Ibrahim Amir outside his home and tossed a grenade
to finish him off.

In other violence around Iraq, nine people died Wednesday.