Iraq Arabic News Summary, February 28, 2008

Arabic News From Iraq, February 28, 2008
Summarized by Nathaniel Rabkin

Sadr Spokesman Says Jaysh al-Mahdi to be Disarmed “Gradually”

Muqtada al-Sadr’s spokesman Salah al-Ubaydi says that the young Shi’ite leader has ordered that the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia be gradually disarmed and turned into a civil association. The militia was once one of the most feared in Iraq, until its leadership announced a six month unilateral cease fire in August. The current announcement about the group’s disarmament comes less than a week after Muqtada al-Sadr ordered the cease fire extended for an additional six months.

Speaking to a reporter from al-Hayat, Salah al-Ubaydi said that “It is advantageous at the present time that Jaysh al-Mahdi turn into a civil association which serves the broader society.” He also seemed to downplay the significance of this change, saying that “Jaysh al-Mahdi was originally an ideological organization, but it armed itself in self defense.”

An anonymous source who holds a “leadership position” in the Sadrist Current told al-Hayat that “Sadr sent hand written notes to the leaders of the Current, explaining that the Current’s military wing, Jaysh al-Mahdi, should be turned into a humanitarian organization of a religious character, and that this organization should consider anyone who bears arms a renegade.”

Source:
al-Hayat, Fadil Rashad, “Sadr Tries to Turn ‘Jaysh al-Mahdi’ Into a Humanitarian Organization like the ‘Badr Organization.’” February 27, 2008.

Presidential Council Refuses to Approve Provinces Law
The Presidential Council has announced that it rejects the law on provincial affairs passed by parliament last week, and requests that parliament draw up a new version of the law. The provinces law was passed on February 13th as part of a package deal with a general amnesty and the 2008 budget.

The Presidential Council’s spokesman, Naseer al-Ani, said that the Council had voted to approve the other two laws but to reject the law on provinces. He said that the Council objected to certain provisions of this law, in particular those relating to the powers of provincial governors and the means of appointing and removing them.

The Iraqi Presidential Council is made up of President Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and his two deputies: Adil Abd al-Mahdi, a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, and Tariq al-Hashimi, the president of the Iraqi Islamic Party. The spokesman for the Council did not say anything about the views of the Council’s individual members on the provinces law.

Source:
 Al-Sharq al-Awsat, “The Iraqi Presidential Council Refuses to Approve the Provinces Law.,” February 28, 2008.