IRAQ - Oil-Rich Southern Areas Push For Autonomy.

Members of the municipal council of Basra, Iraq's second largest city, have been holding talks with officials from councils in the neighbouring provinces of Missan and Dhiqar on establishing a federal region in the south, following the example of the Kurdish north. The three provinces account for more than 80% of the proved oil reserves of the country's 18 provinces and provide a large share of the national income. They have felt marginalised in new government institutions, including the Consultative Assembly, and believe they are not receiving a fair share of economic resources. The Allawi cabinet includes only one representative from the three provinces.

On Sept. 30, the Financial Times quoted a Western diplomat as saying: "The south has been desperately disappointed and they see Baghdad as continuing to leave them without representation. So they are working on ways to organise themselves to have more clout with the centre". Part of the problem stems from the powers given to local governments by the US occupation authorities before the transfer of sovereignty to Iraq on June 28. To regain some of these powers, Baghdad is giving military commanders in the south more civilian authority.

Since the end of the Iraq war, the US and, more recently, the Allawi government, have struggled to reconcile the competing demands of the majority Shiite Arabs and the minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Baghdad has sought to quell a popular Sunni insurgency by giving greater representation to Sunni Arab tribes. It also has tried to maintain the support of Iraq's Shiite majority by addressing Sistani's demands. The Kurdish minority, whose leaders are long-time US allies, has been held in check by the promise of a large measure of autonomy when a permanent constitution is drafted after the elections. The three provinces, however, have felt left out, and are demanding that their local representatives, rather than the Shiite religious leadership in Najaf, speak for them.

The FT quoted a Western diplomat as saying: "In the south people feel Najaf and Karbala look down on them as second-class citizens and they would not do better under them any more than under the Sunnis". But people close to the government say some officials driving the autonomy talks are backed by Muqtada Al-Sadr, the renegade Shiite mullah who launched an uprising against American troops in July.