Forming city government messy in Iraq

KIRKUK, Iraq -- To the list of things best not watched in the making, such as laws and sausages, add Iraqi democracy.

A U.S.-brokered leadership convention Saturday selected part of an interim government for this ethnically tense city. But the first steps toward democratic rule could be taken only after the detention of five Arab delegates suspected of ties to Saddam Hussein, an attempt by Kurds to pad their delegation's numbers, and accusations that the U.S. commanding general here stacked the city council to his liking.

In one encouraging sign, at least the most miffed group -- Kirkuk's majority Arabs -- stayed to the end instead of making good on threats to boycott the convention.

"This only happened to Arabs, although all ethnic groups belonged to the Baath Party. It is a kind of discrimination," fumed Wasfi Assi, delegation leader and a kinsman of one of those detained by U.S. troops and led away in handcuffs. "We were humiliated. But we have to look to the future of this city, which is why we continued even while we were in pain."

The U.S. administrator for postwar Iraq occupation, L. Paul Bremer III, vowed recently to see people who were complicit with Saddam's reign excluded from the new country that U.S.-led forces are attempting to build.

"We're not going to tolerate any senior Baath Party member in this government," Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, said of the last-minute detentions. He said the vetting process for the convention had taken time to complete and confirmation that five delegates had been involved in the former regime had come to light only the night before.

Two other Arabs chosen by their ethnic compatriots were arrested Thursday, reducing their delegation from 39 to 32. But the Arabs still were awarded their promised six seats on the 30-member city council.

A mayor, deputy mayor and three assistants will be chosen from council members on Tuesday. They will oversee resettling former residents, designing the new government and eliminating Baath Party influence.

Kirkuk, Iraq's biggest oil-producing city and thus a plum in the postwar redistricting, still crackles with ethnic tension despite a more functional public service network than other larger Iraqi cities.

But Saddam focused his drive for "Arabization" here, ethnically engineering the Kurdish majority out of existence by expelling an estimated 250,000 Kurds from the area and giving or selling their homes to Arabs.

Spontaneous efforts to reverse that injustice have brought hordes of armed young Kurds to the city at night to chase away the Arab settlers. At least 11 people have been killed in recent violence. Kurdish leaders have appealed to their constituents to be patient and let a legal process determine property rights.

All involved in the new government effort concede the resettlement issue is the most pressing and could undermine efforts to seat a stable interim leadership unless resolved soon.

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