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Barzani: "We reject anything that is
against the Iraqi constitution"
8.12.2006 |
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December 7, -- It wasn’t
quite that blunt, but one of Iraq’s most prominent
Kurdish leaders issued scathing statement about the
Iraq Study Group’s new report — and about the
integrity of the commission’s co-chairs, former
Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic
Congressman Lee Hamilton.
In an email today, Massoud Barzani, president of the
autonomous Kurdish region in (northern Iraq),
outlined
objections to the Iraq Study Group’s key
recommendations — from its proposals for an amnesty
for many
insurgents to its recommendation that the central
government in Baghdad be strengthened at the expense
of regional governments.
But the Kurdish leader, son of a prominent Kurdish
guerilla, made clear that his feelings were hurt by
a series of perceived slights by Messrs. Baker and
Hamilton. |
Massoud Barzani, President of Kurdistan
Region in Iraq |
First, he noted, the commission’s “failing to visit
Iraqi Kurdistan was a major shortcoming that
adversely
influenced the credibility of the assessment.” Mr.
Barzani also claimed that the report’s final
conclusions ran “contrary to what Mr. James Baker
told us by phone two days ago” when he “assured us
that the special status of Kurdistan was taken into
account.” Finally, Mr. Barzani said he was miffed
that the commission didn’t pay enough attention to a
letter he had sent conveying his personal thoughts
about Iraq’s future. ““The group did not attach any
importance to the letter and it seemed as if they
had not read it at all,” he said, sadly.
The Baker-Hamilton report, while drawing favorable
reviews from many quarters in the U.S., has been
greeted with a mix of skepticism and hostility in
Iraq.
Barzani’s letter was no exception. “Despite our
thanks and gratitude for President George W. Bush
and the American administration for overthrowing the
previous regime and their efforts for building a new
Iraq, we think that the Iraq Study Group has made
some unrealistic and inappropriate recommendations
for helping the U.S. to get out of these
difficulties,” he wrote. “If under this pretext,
these inappropriate recommendations are imposed on
us; we declare, on behalf of the people of
Kurdistan, that we reject anything that is against
the constitution and the interest of Iraq and
Kurdistan.”
wsj com
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