al-Hakim calls for 'federal regions'

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A prominent Shiite leader said Monday that setting up federal regions in Iraq would solve the country's problems, adding that Shiites are being subjected to mass killings but they should not retaliate by using violence.

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Shiite bloc in the 275-member parliament, was speaking at a Shiite mosque in central Baghdad to mark Ashoura, one of the holiest days in the Shiite calendar commemorating the 7th century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein. Thousands of people dressed in black in a sign of mourning attended the ceremony at the Khulani Mosque.

"I reaffirm that the establishing of regions will help us in solving many problems that we are suffering from. Moreover, it represents the best solution for these problems," al-Hakim said. "We affirm the necessity of establishing the south and center and Baghdad regions after the people vote on it."

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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