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Kurdistan's president waiting for Iraqi
approval on new flag
15.9.2006 |
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Erbil,
Kurdistan-Iraq, September 15 -- (AP) - The president
of Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdistan region on
Wednesday said that once the central government
approves a new Iraqi flag for the country, he'll be
proud to fly it.
Massoud Barzani set off a firestorm of protest among
many political factions in Iraq on Sept. 1 when he
decided to replace
the Iraqi flag with the Kurdish one throughout
the region.
But during a visit
by US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad he played down
the issue, saying that the Iraqi government needed
to approve a new flag before an Iraqi flag could be
raised here.
When the new flag is approved, Barzani said "we will
be proud to fly that flag here as well."
He made the comments during a meeting with Khalilzad
in this Kurdish-controlled city about 350km north of
Baghdad. |
Massoud Barzani, President of Kurdistan
Region in Iraq |
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Barzani's decision to lower the Iraqi flag had
little meaning here since almost the only flag seen
in the Kurdistan region - even before the ban - was
the green, white, and red-striped banner of
Kurdistan with a yellow sunburst in the middle.
On a political level, the move raised fears that
Kurdish leaders would push for the region to secede
from the rest of Iraq, fears that Barzani
downplayed.
AP
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