Chaos Threatens Iraq's Fragile Secular-Religious Balance

by Peyman Pejman

(IPS) DUBAI -- A pair of suicide bombings in the Kurdish area of Iraq and repeated demonstrations by supporters of a revered Shiite leader throughout the country has raised two sensitive questions in the war-torn nation.

Is terrorism beyond control, and have recent religious outpourings spelled the death of secularism in a country that has long prided itself on achieving a balance between religion and civil society?

The bombings on Sunday in Erbil, one of the two capitals of Iraqi Kurdistan in the northern part of the country, ripped through the offices of the two major Kurdish political parties, killing and wounding 300 people.

By far, this was the bloodiest incident in Iraq since U.S.-led forces toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in March last year. The Kurd-run north is set to return to self-rule after the scheduled transfer of power to Iraqis in late June.

Although no one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, Kurdish officials are pointing the finger at Ansar al-Islam, a group that they say is associated with the al-Qaeda network. Ansar al-Islam has claimed in turn that it is the target of repression by Kurdish political parties.

Before last year's invasion by U.S.-led forces, the 1,000-strong group operated out of the Kurdish areas near the Iran-Iraq border. U.S.-led occupying forces have said that they believe their carpet bombing of the area killed about half of the group's members while the other half fled to Iran -- but that it has been trying to make a comeback into Iraq.

Although the physical security of the Kurdish offices was in the hands of local officials, Kurdish authorities did not have too many kind words for the occupying forces after Sunday's blasts

"One of the first things they said they would do is create an intelligence network, work with other Iraqis and root out terrorism before it can gain hold. I am seriously wondering if they have completely missed the ball," said a senior Kurdish official who - because of his daily dealing with the U.S.-led administration in Baghdad-asked that he not be named.

One of the first orders of U.S. Civil Administrator Paul Bremer was to dissolve Iraq's army and the intelligence agencies. But that created a large security vacuum that has caught even some U.S. officials by surprise.

The occupying forces say they have made strides in the past few months. They point out that Iraq's neighbouring countries, after much prodding by Washington, have enforced more effective border security measures to curb infiltration into Iraq.

They also take pride in this week's appointment of a new intelligence minister, a celebrated anti-Saddam air force general who lost two sons after leading a failed coup attempt in 1996.

Another concern many Iraqis have is that recent demonstrations by supporters of Ayatollah Ali Sistani might threaten secularism in Iraq. The ayatollah and his followers have been calling for nationwide elections by June to choose members of Iraq's first post-war government.

Coalition and Iraqi officials argue the country is not ready yet for free and fair elections.

Some Iraqis say they are concerned what has started as a pro-elections movement will turn into an anti-democracy momentum.

"Everyone in Iraq is now worried. The Kurds are worried. The Shiites are worried. The Sunnis are worried. The Turkomans and Assyrians are worried. Everyone is worried because nobody trusts the other group," says Adel Murad, a politburo member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the groups affected by Sunday's bombing.

"Everyone is afraid that the other group might try to impose its will on the others," he adds.

Maysoon Damluji, an activist with the women's movement, says some Islamic groups have already tried to spread their wings and curtail the secularist traditions of Iraq. During his last day as rotating chairman of the interim government, Abdel Aziz Hakim introduced a resolution that would have changed family laws.

"In effect, it would have allowed polygamy, make it harder for women to seek divorce and would have automatically given custody of the kids to the father and made shariah, Islamic jurisprudence, the law of the land," Damluji says.

Although the resolution passed with slim majority, it will not become law because, under international occupation laws, Bremer has to sign it -- and he has said he will not do so.

Hakim is head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim religious group that wants the country ruled based on Islamic laws.

"We are for democracy and free flow of opinion. No Iraqi will allow one group to impose its will on another group and resort to measures that were common during the past regime. I assure you of that," Damluji says.

Although pro-Sistani rallies have only focused on the elections, secularists like Murad and Damluji are concerned that many of the ayatollah's supporters would attempt to curtail Iraq's civic liberties if given the chance.

There are those, however, who argue the apparent rise in religious activism is more about politics than religion.

"I don't think there is a threat to secularism in Iraq. When people are oppressed, they respond according to sectarian formation as a natural defense mechanism. When the threat is gone, when their political rights are guaranteed, any ethnic group will start to act as small groups that would think only about its individual rights," says Entifadh Qanbar, spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress, a secular coalition of various Iraqi opposition groups under Saddam.