Monday, October 02, 2006
State of emergency extended
Security, Politics
Parliament approved another month's extension of the state of emergency, in place since November 2004. The measure allows for a nighttime curfew and gives the government extra powers to make arrests without warrants and launch police and military operations when it deems them necessary. It applies everywhere except the northern Kurdish autonomous zone. "This extension of the state of emergency is needed because we are still in a big confrontation with terrorism," al-Inazi told the lawmakers. "Terrorists are planning to break into crucial areas. We have information proving that. These terrorist groups, which consist of 50 to 100 gunmen, are gathering in a camp-like areas in Baghdad's outskirts and Anbar," he said, without elaborating.
Parliamentarians, meanwhile, have been at loggerheads after revelations a senior Sunni politician's bodyguard had been implicated in a bomb plot against Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, the seat of the government. Parliament speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani cut off further debate on the subject and forced the fractious deputies to focus on the legislative agenda, including renewing the long-running state of emergency.
But Sunni parliamentarians said the powers needed to be reviewed since they clearly were not improving the situation, and alleging security forces were corrupt.
Even after the measure passed with only 32 deputies out of 275 voting against, Sunni parliamentarian Hussein al-Falluji loudly disputed the action. The parliament had been expected to discuss the federalism law Monday which would set down the conditions for creating autonomous regions -- another contentious issue -- but instead chose to focus on minor laws. The atmosphere has been tense in parliament after the news of the bomb plot, and several Shiite deputies have called for investigations into Sunni politicians, suggesting they have links with insurgent groups. The Sunnis riposted that Shiite political parties are sponsoring armed militias responsible for much of the midnight killings across Baghdad.
But Sunni parliamentarians said the powers needed to be reviewed since they clearly were not improving the situation, and alleging security forces were corrupt.
Even after the measure passed with only 32 deputies out of 275 voting against, Sunni parliamentarian Hussein al-Falluji loudly disputed the action. The parliament had been expected to discuss the federalism law Monday which would set down the conditions for creating autonomous regions -- another contentious issue -- but instead chose to focus on minor laws. The atmosphere has been tense in parliament after the news of the bomb plot, and several Shiite deputies have called for investigations into Sunni politicians, suggesting they have links with insurgent groups. The Sunnis riposted that Shiite political parties are sponsoring armed militias responsible for much of the midnight killings across Baghdad.
