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Erbil, 10 Oct. (AKI) - The United Nations
coordinator in Iraqi Kurdistan has said that "the
region will not obtain even a small part of foreign
donations and the funds destined for reconstruction
projects in Iraq." Dindar Zebari, who has been named
to head the first regional office of the UN in Iraqi
Kurdistan, said this was the result "of the Kurdish
bloc within the Baghdad government and of the
government's lack of coordination with the
ministries of (the regional government of)
Kurdistan".
Zebari added that "the United Nations is on the
verge of boosting its activity in Iraq through
development projects and contributions to the
political process and the reconstruction of the
country".
He said he was pleased with the expansion of the
UN's role in Iraq. "For more than 12 years we sought
to obtain a UN coordinator for human rights in
Kurdistan but we failed. Today however all the
aspects of the United Nations agencies are present
in Kurdistan" he said.
Regarding the UN's priorities in the region, the
coordinator explained that "at the moment we are
trying to gather documentation and evidence relating
to mass killings of which the Kurdish people have
been victims, first and foremost al-Anfal and the
chemical attacks in the Kurdish areas".
The UN had given the OK for the opening of a special
section in the regional office to follow the case of
the victims of al-Anfal, he said.
Regarding the problem of oil-rich Kirkuk and the
role the UN might play in resolving the issue,
Zebari noted the UN "attaches great importance to
the question of the Kurdish areas which were
Arabised in previous eras, especially during the
former regime of Saddam Hussein, and is striving to
take part in the normalisation process in that area
by overseeing the return of refugees and people
expelled".
Zebari said that the opening of the Kurdish office
means they can communicate directly with the UN,
rather than via the Baghdad office - but added that
there would still be coordination between them and
the Iraqi government regarding links with the UN.
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