Iraq Constitution Meeting Delayed

BAGHDAD, 6 August 2005 — A crucial meeting on Iraq’s constitutional stalemate was put off yesterday by an emergency session of the Kurdish autonomous Parliament as sustained rebel attacks left over a dozen people dead.

The two-day delay came against a backdrop of relentless violence that has seen at least 40 US troops killed in the past 10 days.

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“The meeting of leaders was delayed from today to Sunday in order to allow Barzani to attend a meeting Saturday of the Kurdish Parliament before coming to Baghdad as the head of a delegation of Kurdish parliamentary groups,” said a statement from Talabani’s office. The issues yet to be decided on include federalism, official languages, the relation between religion and state, the name of the republic, the rights of women and the question of the oil-rich center of Kirkuk which Kurds want included in their own autonomous region.

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“We are insisting on federalism, there is no way to have a unified Iraq without federalism.” Mufti said he hoped Baghdad would accept Kurdish federalist demands, but added three issues could be problematic — the future of Kirkuk, the name of Iraq and the role of Islam. “We want Islam to be a main source of legislation, but not the main source,” Mufti said. “Iraq is a country for all — Christians and Yezidis, as well as Sunni and Shiite.”

ArabNews

I had to look that up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yezidi It seems that this is an ancient religion still alive and well within a subset of kurds. Who knew?

Oddly enough, they are a great cultural hodge-podge, just like us, sitting there at one of the great crossroads of history these last few tens of thousands of years. Even odder, the Kurds have been sitting there being Kurds the whole time, apparently.