Bremer's reservation on Kurdish Confederation project
Iraq-USA, Politics, 1/6/2004

A source close to the Kurdish bloc in the Iraqi governing council said that the Kurdish confederation project was met with reservations from the American adminstrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer.

The source said that Bremer asked in a meeting held on Saturday in Irbil, with the chairman of the National Federation Party, Jalal al-Talibani, and the chairman of the Kurdistani Democratic Party, Masoud Barazani, to delay the request for the confederation, until things calm down, and a provisional constitution for Iraq is reached.

The source added that Bremer's position was not welcomed by the Kurdish side which believes that chances will be narrowed for this success of this project with the passing of time.

Bremer talked in this meeting about a united federal democratic Iraq, without explaining the form of the confederation, or whether it would be the same one proposed by the Kurds. However, the Kurdish press in Irbil considered Bremer's statements as an avoiding the answer the Kurds want.

Certain Arab members at the governing council proposed a draft project, including the confederation of the governorates of Iraq. A matter which was considered by the Kurds a competing idea with their confederation project which is based on national, political and geographical foundations.

The Kurdish project states to divide Iraq to two districts, one is Kurdish with clear borders to be called Kurdistan district and that has a special government which follows the central givernment only in the fields of defense, finance and foreign affairs, while the other one is an Arab district and includes the rest of Iraq.

The Kurds say that they had received the consent of the Iraqi opposition for their project during London and Salah Eddine conference before the invasion. However, Arabs in the Governing Council say they had agreed on the confederation with the Kurdish side without the details having been specified.

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