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Iraqi parliament picks new temporary post-Saddam flag

Iraq's parliament adopted a new, temporary national flag yesterday in a move long demanded by the country's Kurdish minority who say the Saddam Hussain-era banner is a reminder of the cruelty of his rule.

  • Reuters
  • Published: 00:41 January 23, 2008
  • Gulf News

Baghdad: Iraq's parliament adopted a new, temporary national flag yesterday in a move long demanded by the country's Kurdish minority who say the Saddam Hussain-era banner is a reminder of the cruelty of his rule.

There was rare unity among members of parliament over the emotional issue, which represents a symbolic break with the past. A previous attempt to change the flag, by the interim government in 2004, was rejected by Iraqis.

The debate over a post-Saddam flag was given urgency by a planned pan-Arab meeting of politicians in Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region on March 10. Kurdish officials had refused to fly the current flag, which is banned in Kurdistan.

Identical

The new flag will fly for only one year, while debate will continue on what the final flag should look like.

There was no serious opposition from the Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish blocs in parliament to the new flag - 110 of the 165 members present voted for the change - because it is almost identical to the old one. Lawmakers loyal to fiery Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, who have 30 seats in parliament, voted against the proposal for that reason, saying they would prefer to keep the existing flag until a permanent one was chosen.

Other MPs, though, said the vote by parliament was symbolically important, changing a flag that was first flown after the coup by Saddam Hussain's Baath Party in 1963.

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