Iraq's Diyala Province Demands Semi-Autonomous Status

    2011-12-13 00:12:09     Xinhua       Web Editor: Zhangjin

Iraq's eastern province of Diyala on Monday officially demanded to become a semi-autonomous region within the Iraqi state, following the footsteps of Salahudin, the first province that declared such a status. A statement from Diyala's provincial council said the decision was made with the support of a majority of its 28 members, after 18 out of 23 present at Monday's session voted in favor of the semi-autonomous status. "In response to the demand by the provincial tribal leaders and dignitaries, we officially declare that we have submitted a demand to the central government to announce the province of Diyala as a (semi-autonomous) region with maintaining Iraq's unity and full commitment to its constitution," Zyad Ahmed, a council member told reporters in the provincial capital of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad. On October 27, Iraq's Sunni-dominated province of Salahudin declared itself as a semi-autonomous region within the Iraqi state. Salahudin's move outraged Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government, who rejected the call, saying such a region could become a safe haven for the members of Saddam Hussein 's Baath party, which is banned. Iraqi constitution says "one or more governorates (provinces) shall have the right to organize into a region based on a request to be voted on in a referendum submitted in one of the following two methods: First: a request by one-third of the council members of each governorate intending to form a region. Second: a request by one-tenth of the voters in each of the governorates intending to form a region. Diyala's demand came days before the full departure of U.S. forces from Iraq, which is slated by the end of the year.