Thanks for the heads up and education.
Unhelpful Iran?
08 October 2003
Jane's Magazine
Sources in the Bush administration say that Iran is putting pressure on Shi'ite members of Iraq's Governing Council to pull out of the newly created 25-member body. If this story is true, and the Shi'ites walk out, the council would be plunged into crisis. The story may, however, be US propaganda.
What Foreign Report has learned, however, is that Abdulaziz Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and a member of the Governing Council, was in Tehran on 6 October meeting President Mohammed Khatami and the role of the council was up for discussion.
With little sign of elections, the Governing Council is trying to become a de facto government. The problem is that, because it was set up to represent all the different groups within the country, the Council has let the genie of ethnic competition out of the bottle.
The Governing Council is also considering a report on creating a new constitution. Many would like to see a strongly Islamic document with reference to Sharia law, but it is hard to see the USA agreeing. And the thorny subject of federalism is still in the pending tray.
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/fr/fr031008_1_n.shtml