Iraqi parliament chooses temporary post-Saddam flag

By Waleed Ibrahim

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament adopted a new, temporary national flag on Tuesday in a move long demanded by the country's Kurdish minority who say the Saddam Hussein-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 universally 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.

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 Shi'ite, 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 Shi'ite 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 Hussein's Baath Party in 1963.

"The new flag has no signs of Saddam's regime and is a sign that change has been achieved in the country, said Humam Hamoudi, a prominent Shi'ite politician and member of the powerful Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) party.