|
Iraqi MP launches scathing attack on
Kurdish politicians
3.9.2006 |
|
|
|
BAGHDAD, Iraq,
September 3 , -- A leading Sunni politician levelled
the harshest criticism yet by Sunnis against Kurdish
politicians Saturday, accusing them of insulting
Iraq.
Sunni Arab lawmaker Saleh Mutlaq made his comments a
day after
Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani ordered the
Iraqi national flag to be replaced with the
Kurdish one in his northern Kurdistan autonomous
region, in what appeared to be another move towards
more self-rule in the north.
“What will be taken by force today, will be returned
by force another day,” he said, without elaborating.
“We can defend our dignity, our people and our land
... and no one should be under the illusion that he
could take a tiny bit of somebody else's land.”
Mutlaq said there was no problem with the Kurds
“keeping the land that's within their acknowledged
borders,” but said that lowering the Iraqi flag “is
definitely disturbing for us and any patriotic
individual in Iraq.” A spokesman for the Kurdistan
government refused to comment. But he defended his
government's decision to remove the Iraqi flag.
“We consider that this flag represents the ideology
of the Baath Party” of Saddam Hussein, Khalid Saleh
told the Associated Press. “And this regime has
collapsed.” Prominent Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud
Othman dismissed Mutlaq's remarks.
“There is no need for threats,” he said, adding that
it was not the right time to make such remarks,
given the violence plaguing the country. “This is
rejected and everything can be resolved through the
political process,” he said.
Iraq's northern Kurdistan region has slowly been
gaining more autonomy since the 2003 US-led invasion
of Iraq. The move has troubled Sunni Arabs, who fear
that Kurds are pushing for secession under the
nation's new federal system. Such a step, if
imitated by the Shiite majority in the oil-rich
south, would leave Sunnis with little more than date
groves and sand.
“We have a brotherly, friendly relationship with
brother Massoud, but whatever kind of relationship
it is, we can never be silent when the Iraqi flag is
insulted,” Mutlaq said.
“The Kurdish people have been persecuted for many
years, and it's been proven that no one can crush a
people or ethnicity ... Similarly no one will be
able to persecute the Arab people,” he said.
The lawmaker insisted the country belonged to all
Iraqis. |
Iraq's Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani is
flanked by an Iraqi flag from the 1960's (R) and the
present Kurdistan flag (L) as he speaks during a
conference in Erbil, September 3, 2006. The leader
of Iraq's ethnic Kurds brandished the threat of
secession on Sunday as a row with the Baghdad
government over the flying of the Iraqi national
flag exposed an increasingly bitter rift. After the
Kurdish regional government banned the use of the
Iraqi flag on public buildings
Photo: Reuters |
“He who wants to have a
separatist desire has to be just and should keep the
amicable relationship between Arabs and Kurds,” he
said.
He insisted that Sunni Arabs “do not want to reach
to a point of having a vendetta with the Kurds. The
brotherhood between the Kurdish and Arab people
remains.” Sunnis have long complained that the
Kurdish-championed federalism project could lead to
the country's division.
“And here it is — our premonitions coming true,” he
said. “Today, we see this happening in northern
Iraq, tomorrow maybe it will happen somewhere else.”
Saleh, the Kurdish spokesman, however, reiterated
that Kurds do not want secession.
“Federalism will not lead to dividing Iraq,” he
said.
“Division is the farthest thing from our mind.”
Mutlaq also unleashed a barrage of criticism against
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's national unity
government, saying it should not be taking its cue
from the top Shiite religious authority, Ayatollah
Ali Sistani.
AP
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 