Bid to Empower Iraqi Provinces Is Thwarted

A parliamentary vote on a Shiite proposal to grant greater autonomy to Iraq’s provinces was scuttled Sunday when Sunni Arab legislators, fearing it would divide and weaken the central government, threatened a walkout.

Shiite Muslim lawmakers say they want to add a provision to Iraq’s nascent constitution that will allow them to replicate the level of autonomy that the northern region of Kurdistan enjoys.

“The session was postponed because we lacked a quorum,” said Nasser Saadi, a lawmaker with the ruling Shiite alliance.

Under the plan, Iraq would be divided into federal regions whose borders largely would fall along ethnic or sectarian lines. Sunni Arabs complain that such partitioning would leave them with resource-poor areas in the west, such as Al Anbar province, whereas Kurds and Shiites would lay claim to vast oil reserves in the north and south.

“We stand against this law,” said Adnan Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab lawmaker. “This law wants to divide Iraq.”

Shiite legislators said they would try to vote again on the plan in coming weeks, and noted that their proposal aimed to destroy the legacy of Saddam Hussein, whose Sunni Arab regime centralized government authority in Baghdad.

“The system we agreed to after the collapse of Saddam’s regime is a regional system, and there is no turning back from this principle because it represents the will of 12 million Iraqi voters,” said Khalid Atiya, a Shiite deputy speaker.

Meanwhile, authorities in the predominantly Kurdish city of Mandali, 75 miles northeast of the capital, ordered Iraqi flags removed from government buildings. Kurdistan regional President Massoud Barzani started a national debate when he prohibited Kurdish government buildings from flying the new Iraqi flag, a variation on a design used during Hussein’s rule.

Human rights organizations have documented the killing of tens of thousands of Kurds during Hussein’s rule.

Authorities on Sunday reported at least 34 deaths in insurgent and sectarian violence across Iraq.

In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near a police patrol, killing an officer and injuring seven people. A bomb hidden inside a nylon bag exploded near a cellphone shop, killing five people and injuring 17 others.

In Baqubah, 35 miles north of Baghdad, a shootout between Sunni and Shiite gunmen left at least five people dead and 14 injured.

And in two separate incidents, gunmen killed a police general and two bodyguards, and two brothers who were police intelligence agents. Baqubah authorities said there were at least 20 sectarian killings over the weekend.

A bomb exploded near police units raiding a suspected insurgent hide-out in northeast Baghdad, killing three people. Police found a variety of explosives, firearms and three corpses in the house.

An attack on a police station near the southern city of Amarah left one officer dead and five people wounded.

U.S. Marines in the western town of Ramadi reported killing two suspected insurgents during a gun battle. At least four people were injured. Marines also detained several suspects. In a separate Ramadi incident, gunmen shot and killed a traffic officer.

Police in Samarra discovered three bodies in the Tigris River.

Iraq’s Defense Ministry announced that an Iraqi army convoy repelled an insurgent attack near Tikrit, north of Baghdad, and killed four suspects. Gunmen killed four oil refinery employees in Tuz Khurmatu, 50 miles south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

In the southern city of Diwaniya, residents said thousands of leaflets were scattered over the weekend. Some demanded that residents cooperate with the 8th Division of the Iraqi army, which is based in the town.

Fierce fighting recently broke out in Diwaniya between Iraqi security forces and armed followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr.

Other leaflets warned residents about Iranians.

“Criminals and their Persian masters want to oppress our people,” read one of the leaflets. “They are kidnapping our families and stealing our money. Those felons are stealing oil and gas and selling it back to poor families for five times the profit.”

It was unclear who wrote and distributed the leaflets.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki postponed a trip to Iran planned for this week.

Iraqi officials said that Maliki had intended to use the trip to address Iranian influence in Iraq’s affairs.

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solomon.moore@latimes.com

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Times staff writer Zainab Hussein in Baghdad, special correspondents in Najaf, Diwaniya, Baghdad, Kirkuk, Ramadi and Kuwait, and wire services contributed to this report.