Arab, Kurdish leaders trade barbs over Iraq unrest

August 17, 2009

Mujahid Mohammed

Agence France Presse

MOSUL, Iraq: Arab and Kurdish politicians in northern Iraq traded accusations of responsibility on Sunday over a series of bloody bombings that have rocked the region in recent days. In the latest bombing, a politician from Iraq’s tiny Kurdish-speaking Shabak community and two aides were wounded in the city of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest, less than a week after twin truck bombs killed dozens of members of the sect, police said.

Sunday’s attack against Qussai Abbas, the only Shabak member of Nineveh provincial council, sparked a war of words between Kurdish politicians and the Sunni Arabs who lead the council.

Initially, Arab politicians accused Kurds of carrying out the attacks to push the local population to demand the deployment of Kurdish peshmerga militiamen across the province.

The accusation drew a sharp rebuke from Kurdish authorities.

“We are sorry to see that some of the leaders of the [Sunni Arab] Al-Hadba list stand against the principles of democracy and peaceful coexistence by accusing the Kurdistan region of taking part in the latest attacks in Nineveh,” a spokesman for the Kurdish regional government said.

At least 34 people were killed and 155 wounded on August 10 when two massive truck bombs exploded, leveling dozens of homes, in the Shabak-majority village of Khaznah near Mosul.

That attack was one of a string across the country which killed 51 people in one of the bloodiest days since the withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi towns and cities on June 30.

“We have been patient and suffered a lot in order to preserve tranquility and stability and to prevent them from dragging us into a confrontation that would have dire consequences,” the Kurdish spokesman said.

“The reality is that in Nineveh province, the terrorist campaign of bombings and assassinations was targeting Kurdish Yazidis, Kurdish Shabaks, Turkmen and Christians, not to mention the displacement of hundreds of Christian and Kurdish families.

“Some of the members of the Al-Hadba list bear responsibility for these crimes, especially the two brothers [of the governor].” Nineveh Governor Athel al-Nujaifi hit back describing the Kurdish remarks as “hasty” and stemming from frustration at the loss of control of Nineveh council to the Sunni Arab list in the last provincial elections in January.

“The Kurds did not like the entire election process, so they made hasty statements and threats,” he told AFP. “It is our right to talk about the security situation.” Nujaifi called on Kurdish leaders to accept that none of Nineveh Province would be joined with the three far-northern provinces that currently form the autonomous Kurdish region.

Kurdish leaders have long demanded that the region be expanded to include historically Kurdish-inhabited parts of Nineveh and Diyala provinces as well as the whole of Kirkuk province.

Kurdish peshmerga continue to patrol some districts of Nineveh which they occupied during the US-led invasion of 2003 but Nujaifi demanded that the Iraqi army deploy across the whole province.

Despite a reduction in violence in the recent months, attacks against security forces and civilians remain common in Mosul as well as in Kirkuk and Baghdad.

The number of violent deaths fell by a third last month to 275 from 437 in June, following the pullout of US forces from urban areas. The figure for May was 155, the lowest of any month since the invasion.

The Shabak community numbers an estimated 30,000 people, who are living in some 50 villages in Nineveh province, and many want to become part of the autonomous Kurdish region.

Source: Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/Aug/17/Arab-Kurdish-leaders-trade-barbs-over-Iraq-unrest.ashx.