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Iraqi Parliament Delays Debate on Shi'ite Federalism Proposals
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&ctl=13E287E:A6F02AD83191E160410159D49F4876099574F7DCC14957C0 Iraqi officials
say session was postponed because of strong opposition by Sunni
political parties which argue that federalism will lead to break up of
country





Mahmud Mashhadani, speaker of the Iraqi parliament looks on as
parliament

Iraq's parliament has delayed a debate on Shi'ite proposals to create
an autonomous region in the south of the country.

Iraqi officials say the session was postponed because of strong
opposition by Sunni political parties, which argue that federalism
will lead to the break up of the country.

The main Shi'ite political bloc in parliament, the United Iraqi
Alliance, has submitted a bill calling for a three-way federal system
in Iraq with an autonomous region in southern, mostly Shi'ite, Iraq.
There is already a Kurdish autonomous region in the north.

Iraq's Sunni Arab minority also fears the proposals will place the
country's oil resources in the hands of Shi'ites and Kurds.  

In another development,  Iraqi police say a bomb in central Baghdad
has killed at least three people.  Also Sunday, officials said a 
visit to Iran by Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki has been delayed.

The visit was to take place on Monday.  An Iraqi official blamed the
delay on what he called "technical reasons."

Elsewhere, Iraqi police raided a building, killing three al-Qaida
operatives.  A fourth got away. The police say they found a large
quantity of explosives during the raid. 

Separately, Iraqi police found the mutilated bodies of at least six
people floating in the Tigris river, southwest of the capital.  The
bodies of torture victims are frequently dumped into the river by
sectarian death squads.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP.


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