BAGHDAD: A proposal to rescind Iraq's unified personal status code in favour of Sharia law could divide an already war-torn society characterized by a diverse mix of ethnic, religious and tribal communities.

If the law is passed, observers fear, it will legally divide the Iraqi society along religious sects, of which at least eight exist. Each sect would be subject to its own personal status code.

On December 29, two days before the end of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim's term as head of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC), the council narrowly passed a proposal to make the personal status code in Iraq subject to the Shariat.

The proposal was reportedly sponsored by conservative Shias. Al- Hakim, a Shia, heads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. But it faces strong opposition from liberal council members members and senior women officials in the Iraqi government.

In the past week, several demonstrations were staged to protest the proposal, led by Public Works Minister Nasreen Berwari, the only female minister in the appointed Iraqi cabinet.

Naseer al-Chaderchi, a Sunni on the governing council, said the proposal would fortify sectarian tension in Iraq. "The decision to cancel the unified personal status code has not been studied well. The proposed law has many legal flaws. This proposal has not been presented to the council's legal committee, of which I am a member," said al-Chaderchi.

Al-Hakim has refused to comment on the proposal, but the vice president of the Shia Endowment Court, Jalal al-Sagheer, said Shias were adamant about passing the law.

"With an occupation administration ruling now, US administrator Paul Bremer may contest the proposal but when power is transferred to the Iraqis, it will pass. We insist on it," al-Sagheer said in comments reported by Iraqi media this week.

His optimism stems from the fact that Shias, oppressed under the rule of deposed Sunni leader Saddam Hussein, represent a majority in Iraq. But many in post-war Iraq believe the future must be freed from social mores that defined the past, and that retaining the secular law on personal status is one important step.

"Basing a law on sectarianism will only lead to division and the first thing the country needs now is to be united," said Mohammed Mounif Salem, a judge. The president of the Iraqi Women Nahda Organisation, Zakiya Khalifeh, said the proposed law was bound to weaken the Iraqi family. "We were hoping the governing council would issue laws that move forward the rights of women in the new Iraq," she said.

During the reign of Saddam, Iraqi women enjoyed more rights than many of their counterparts in the Middle East. The Iraqi Provisional Constitution, drafted in 1970, formally guaranteed equal rights to women. Other laws ensured their right to vote, attend school, run for political office and own property.

In 1978, several changes were made to the unified personal status laws that gave women even more rights. For example, divorced mothers were granted custody of their children until the age of 10, instead of age seven for boys and nine for girls. Changes were made to the conditions under which a woman could seek divorce, and to regulations concerning polygamy and inheritance.

Many of those changes should be rolled back, according to al- Sagheer. "The current law has nothing to do with Islam. It is the worst law ever since it gave women the right to willingly get a divorce. It also gave women equal rights with men in inheritance, contradicting Islamic law," he said.

Alia al-Omar, an activist who participated in the recent protests, disagrees. "The law we had was realistic, respected human rights and unified the Iraqi family," she says.

So does Mohammed Zahed, a lawyer who says the law implemented under Saddam is actually based on the Islamic Sharia and provides a balance acceptable by other sects.

Al-Sagheer counters that the law imposed by the Sunni-dominated Baath party "forced Iraqis to get married according to the Sunni Hanafi sect, including Christians."

Before the US-led war against Iraq, many Arab analysts warned the structure of Iraqi society could turn it into another Lebanon - where sectarian differences led to 15 years of warfare. Sectarian differences are enshrined in the Lebanese legal code, which provides 18 personal status codes for its 18 official sects.-dpa