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Erbil, Iraq's Kurdistan capital always on
its toes 10.11.2007
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November
10, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', --
Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern autonomous
Kurdistan region, has been spared the kinds of
attacks that have bloodied the rest of the country
thanks to a deep ditch, vigilant police and nosy
citizens.
As a result of this unusual combination of factors,
there has been little of the sectarian violence in
the Kurdish-controlled city that has engulfed vast
swathes of Iraq since the bombing of a Shiite shrine
in February last year.
Instead, Erbil boasts of a flourishing economy and
has become a major destination for hundreds of
thousands of people fleeing the violence in other
parts of Iraq.
An attack on February 1, 2004 which killed 105
people "turned the population against the
terrorists," said local official Sabah Karim in the
Erbil office of Asayish, the Kurdish security
forces.
"Since then, there has been total cooperation. If
somebody sees an unknown person taking photographs,
any unusual movement or anything out of the
ordinary, they call us."
The walls of his office, riddled with pockmarks,
seem to contradict his statements -- these are the
scars of an attack on September 5 this year in which
14 people were killed when a truck bomb exploded
under its windows.
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"It was the first in three years -- a Saudi suicide
bomber with two Kurdish accomplices ... Not people
from here ... We can't prevent everything," Karim
said with a shrug.
Faced with an influx from other provinces, the
Kurdish regional authorities have instituted a
"residence permit" against the advice of Iraq's
central government.
"It is a means to check who is this person, where he
comes from, who is his family," said Karim.
Newcomers are obliged to have a Kurdish guarantor.
"If there is any suspicion, the guarantor must bring
us the stranger. If not, he will be arrested."
A European observer who has been based in Erbil for
almost four years, said the residence permits are
strictly controlled.
"(It) is given for one month, three months ... Each
renewal is a fresh control," said the observer,
speaking on condition of
anonymity.
"There is an office of the Kurdistan Democratic
Party (the party of regional president Massud
Barzani) in each neighbourhood. The first step is
information: who is this person. Why is he returning
home so late? Who are these strangers? It is very
effective."
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To prevent what Sabah Karim described as the "Arabisation"
of the Kurdish region, non-Kurds are forbidden to
buy houses or apartments.
If an apartment is rented out, the owner is strongly
advised to keep a close eye on the tenant.
"Our real strength," Karim says with a smile, "is
information. We are very informed on what happens.
And we keep a close eye on the few Arab villages in
the region."
At the end of 2003, at the instigation of the US
military, an excavator was used to dig a ditch right
around Erbil -- four metres (13 feet) wide and three
(10 feet) deep, impassable by vehicle, difficult on
foot.
The effect of the ditch is to restrict traffic
access to the city to just eight entrances, which
are strictly supervised.
Captain Shamal -- he refused to give his full name
-- is in charge of one of the eight points, three
kilometres (two miles) from the city on the road to
Duhok.
"Most important is the accent," he says. "Within two
words we know if this is somebody from Erbil or not.
We question those we don't know. We know all the
truck drivers. We can quickly pick out a new face."
Peshmerga fighters are deployed along the entire
length of the ditch every 500 metres (550 yards), in
sight of one another, equipped with binoculars and
night vision equipment.
"No-one passes by without us knowing -- even on
foot," the captain says. "The guys do a good job.
Gangsters and terrorists hesitate before entering my
city."
AFP
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