1 June 2006
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday declared a month-long state of emergency in Basrah city, in an attempt to rescue the southern oil region from a power struggle among Shiite factions.
“We hope after this month that we will come back to Basrah and see that the situation has improved a lot,” al-Maliki told reporters after announcing the measure and after meeting with tribal leaders, political figures and police officers in the city. It was his first visit since taking power on May 20.
According to the plan, security forces will be deployed in Basrah around the clock and will also conduct search operations. A senior oil official at South Oil Co. (SOC), which runs the southern oil fields, told International Oil Daily Wednesday that the move would not have any significant impact on the oil sector.
“Everything is running as usual as far as we are concerned. But hopefully the situation in the city will get better,” the oil official said.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani did not travel to Basrah with al-Maliki, but the SOC official said the minister held meetings with company management in Baghdad this week, in a sign that he intends to address technical problems with sustaining production. Oil officials said those problems fell on deaf ears under the former government.
“We gave [al-Shahristani] a list of our urgent requirements for field operations and he promised to act on them swiftly. We will wait and see,” the SOC official added.
Stressing that Basrah’s stability was crucial to the country, al-Maliki told local leaders he would crack down on gangs threatening security there. “We will beat with an iron fist on the heads of gangs who are manipulating security. … Security is first, second and third. This must be said,” he told the gathering.
Security has deteriorated sharply in Basrah over the past year as rival factions from the Shiite majority tussle for their share of the power unleashed by the US overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated administration.
Basrah, whose oil accounts for most of Iraq’s government income, is a big prize for all parties. In particular, factions have been fighting a turf war over crude oil and product smuggling through the Shatt al-Arab waterway, a lucrative trade that dates back to the sanctions era under Saddam.
The situation has been exacerbated by a public dispute between the mayor of Basrah, who belongs to the influential Fadhila party, and the local army and police heads.
“The security men must be able to work without fear and interference of the political parties,” al-Maliki said. “Iraq cannot be stable unless the law and the sovereignty of Iraq is respected.”
Al-Maliki said responsibility for security should lie with the security forces alone, a reference to the many militias operating in the city. The main factions in Basrah’s power struggle are the armed Badr organization, the governor’s Fadhila party and the movement of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Analysts say Basrah will become a test case for al-Maliki, as he tries to tackle the lawlessness that’s become endemic since the war.
By Ruba Husari, Dubai
(Published in International Oil Daily June 1, 2006)