Kurds threaten pullout if Shiites get too much say

Violence goes on around the city of Fallujah.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Kurdish parties warned today that they might bolt from Iraq's new government if Shiites gain too much power. In another challenge to the interim administration, saboteurs blew up an oil pipeline, forcing a 10 percent cut in electricity output.
Kurdish fears of Shiite domination rose after the Americans and British turned down their request to have a reference to the interim constitution -- which enshrines Kurdish federalism -- included in the U.N. resolution approved Tuesday.
The country's most prominent Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, warned he would not accept mention of the interim charter in the resolution. Shiites oppose parts of the charter that give Kurds a veto over a permanent constitution due to be drawn up next year.
Violence goes on
Meanwhile, clashes persisted today around Fallujah, a rebellious Sunni Muslim city west of Baghdad. Four members of an Iraqi force given control of the city last April were wounded when a mortar round exploded.
The pipeline attack appeared to be part of an insurgent campaign against infrastructure to shake confidence in the new government, due to take power on June 30.
The blast occurred about 9:30 a.m. near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, said Col. Sarhat Qadir of the Kirkuk police. Huge fireballs rose into the air, witnesses said.
Power affected
Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told Dow Jones Newswires that the attack would not affect exports from the northern oil fields. However, the blast cut supplies to the Beiji electric power station, forcing a reduction of 400 megawatts in power generation, Jihad said.
Iraq now produces around 4,000 megawatts. Power cuts in the country have now reached more than 16 hours a day, making it difficult to cope with soaring heat, which is already more than 100 degrees.
The U.S.-run coalition had made its ability to guarantee adequate electricity supplies a benchmark of success in restoring normalcy to Iraq. However, sabotage and frayed infrastructure have impeded efforts to eliminate power outages, especially in the capital.
Coalition officials fear that insurgents may step up attacks on infrastructure targets to undermine public confidence both in the U.S. occupation authority and the new regime.
Both major Kurdish parties -- the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan -- conferred today to consider a response to the decision not to refer to the interim constitution in the U.N. resolution. The interim charter, adopted in March, affirms the principle of federalism and gave the Kurds an effective veto over the permanent constitution to be drafted next year.
Soldiers killed
Meanwhile, enemy mortar fire caused the munitions dump explosion in Iraq that killed six soldiers from Poland, Slovakia and Latvia who were defusing Saddam-era ordnance, a special military commission said today.
"The deaths did not result from any inappropriate action during the defusing, but it was the result of a mortar attack," said Gen. Piotr Czerwinski, the head of a special commission that investigated the accident, adding it was not known who the attackers were.
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