New governments of Baghdad and Erbil
establish new cooperation
30.5.2006
By Rebar Jaff , Issue 59, May 30.2006 | |
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Erbil, Kurdistan-Iraq, --
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said that state security
still remains one of the top priorities of the two governments in
Baghdad and Erbil.
The new administrations of Al-Maliki, current Iraqi Prime Minister,
and Nechirvan Barzani, Kurdistan's Prime Minister, have both “agreed
on working towards full coordination between themselves, especially
between their interior ministries in order to bring to an end the
threats causing unrest within the borders of the country,” Salih
told the reporters in a joint press conference in Erbil along
Kurdish PM Barzani.
The remarks by Salih came a few weeks after the formation of the
Iraqi and Kurdish governments. Asked about the stance of the new
Iraqi PM Jawad al-Maliki towards Kurdish Peshmarga forces, Salih
said "Iraq is based on the voluntary union of its nations, and the
central government today does acknowledge the Peshmarga forces in
Kurdistan."
"The central government recognizes the fact that Peshmargas are not
militia, but an organized army and the legal guardians of the
Kurdistan Region as per the Iraqi constitution, according to which
the KRG has full authority over the Peshmarga forces in the areas
that are under its control," added Salih. |
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih speaks as Kurdish Prime
minister Nechirvan Barzani listens on during a joint press
conference, in Erbil Sunday, May 28, 2006. The two officials vowed
more coordination between Erbil and Baghdad. GLOBE PHOTO: Hewler
Globe, Safin Hamed |
During his term of office, Iraq’s former PM Ibrahim al-Jaafari had
referred to Peshmargas as militiamen and demanded dissolving the
Kurdish armed forces into the Iraqi army and completely disbanding
them.
When asked by The Globe what his take was about the lack in the
number of women ministers in his newly formed cabinet, KRG Prime
Minister Barzani said the important thing is that there are women
participating in the new administration, without explaining the
reasons why his 42-member cabinet has only three ministry posts
filled by women ministers. Then commenting on the resignation of
Mahabad Qaradaghi, former advisor for equality and women’s affairs
to the Kurdish Prime Minister, Barzani added that although Qaradaghi
did resign and the government did accept her request, nonetheless,
that does not mean her return to the Swedish capital would, by any
means, discontinue her cooperation with the Kurdish administration.
He assumed that perhaps Qaradaghi put forward her resignation due to
personal obligations she might have had in Sweden, forcing her
return, without releasing any further information.
The allocated budget for Kurdistan by the central government and
puttinginto effect the committee formed for normalizing the
situation in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk were also amongst the
topics discussed during the meeting between the two sides. "In order
to form a democratic, national government, we must work together to
install stability in the whole of Iraq,” said Salih, "and we must
not assume that with the collapse of the former Iraqi regime and the
founding of the new constitution, all obstacles have been overcome,”
adding that there are still great efforts to be made by all sides.
In another part of the conference Salih reminded the people of
Kurdistan that the federalism they have gained in today’s Iraq
should also encourage them to partake in restoring full security in
the other parts of the country as well – hinting that this would not
only help improve the situation in Arab Iraq, but also in Kurdistan
by transforming the region into an even safer and much more secure
one than it already is.
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