It is probable that at this point that the Greco-Bactrian kingdom split into several semi-independent regions for some years; Euthydemus II (son of Demetrius?)

A1 One of Iraq's most powerful Shiite politicians backed demands for the formation of a semi-independent region in the oil-rich south, adding fresh turmoil to the drafting of the new constitution.

Arrangements are now also in place that will allow convicted pirates to be transferred back to prisons under construction in Puntland, the semi-independent region of northern Somalia from where much of the piracy is conducted.

Artevelde agreed, but was secretly unwilling to commit all his resources to this war and also was not fully in control of the mercantile city states which emerged in the semi-independent region.

The country devolved into several semi-independent regions under the control of penlops.

Some Sunni Arab leaders on Thursday immediately denounced Mr. Hakim's call for a semi-independent southern region and said it would now be hard to finish the constitution on time.

Iraq's constitution allows governorates to form a semi-independent regions, fully controlling their own natural resources.

An extreme case were the Guarani Reductions, a theocratic semi-independent region established by the Jesuits.

Sunnis dominate in western and much of northwestern and northcentral Iraq, but the oil lies beneath Kurdistan and parts of southern Iraq that one day may be subsumed in a semi-independent region controlled by Shiites.

The right to form semi-independent regions was guaranteed in the Iraqi Constitution, which voters approved a year ago.