A coalition of 43 tribal leaders from the southern provinces of Iraq have announced the formation of the autonomy government of the Unified Southern Iraq, the Iraqi news agency Al-Milaf Press reported.
The tribal leaders from Basra, Al-‘Imara, A-Na’siriyya, A-Diwaniyya and A-Samawa issued a proclamation, according to which their move must not be interpreted as agreement to the federalization of Iraq.
"We are part of Iraq and we do not have any intention – now or in the future – to separate ourselves from our beloved Iraq… We decided that during these sad times we would manage ourselves without any foreign guardianship," the proclamation said.
The tribal leaders did not identify the new self-proclaimed autonomy as associated with one party or sect, although most of the southern districts are dominated by the Shi’ite population.
The move is probably related to the local power struggles that followed a recent decision by the British army to withdraw its troops from Basra, The Media Line’s analysts say.
Reports from London indicate that Britain would hand over control of Basra to local forces by the end of the year.