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Baghdad Wary of Kurdish Deployment
17.2.2007
By Basim al-Sharaa in Baghdad (ICR No. 212, 16-Feb-07) |
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The presence of Kurdish troops in Baghdad raises
hopes of stability but also fears of Kurd-Shia
confrontations.
February 17, 2007
The deployment of Kurdish brigades in Baghdad
neighbourhoods controlled by followers of firebrand
Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr has prompted hopes that
the forces will bring peace, as well as fears that
the move will stoke ethnic and sectarian tensions.
Around 3,000 Kurdish soldiers are deploying in
Baghdad as part of the new security plan - the first
time Kurdish troops are being sent to the city in
such numbers.
On Friday, February 16, full-scale battle broke out
in the southern city of Basra between British forces
and the Mahdi Army militia, which is loyal to al-Sadr,
raising the possibility that such all-out fighting
may soon be seen in Baghdad.
For the past four years, relations between Kurds and
al-Sadr followers have been sensitive at best. This
is partly because the Sadr movement opposes
federalism and article 140 of the Iraqi constitution
calling for normalisation in the ethnically mixed
and oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Normalisation refers to
returning Kirkuk to its state before the Saddam
regime, which imported Arabs and expelled Kurds.
Many Sadrists believe the policy is being used to
drive out Arabs and Turkomen.
Mahdi Army commander Abu Ammar al-Sujad said he was
concerned that deployment of Kurdish troops in the
city might cause problems "because of the hate the
Kurdish leaders have for the Sadr movement and its
followers".
"I still remember that in the Najaf offensive [of
April 2004] ... most of the Iraqi army snipers were
Peshmargas [Kurdish Fighters]," he said.
The Iraqi army and US forces launched a huge
offensive on the holy Shia city of Najaf in 2004,
vowing to destroy the Mahdi Army.
ATTEMPTS AT PEACE
In January 2007, a Sadrist movement delegation
visited the capital of the Kurdish region of Erbil
for the first time.
Kurdish officials say the purpose of the visit was
to clear-up misunderstandings on federalism and
Kirkuk.
While there was no official change as a result of
the meeting, observers say it was an important sign
that both sides are intent on diffusing tensions.
Others insist the Kurdish troops will be a positive
force.
Abdul-khaliq Zangana from the Kurdish Alliance bloc
in the Iraqi parliament says he is shocked by the
way media portrayed the Kurdish deployment.
Journalists have been largely pessimistic about the
move, saying it will lead to greater violence.
Zangana is at pains to point out that the Kurdish
forces are loyal to the Iraqi army.
"The Kurdish troops are a part of the Iraqi army and
they are under the command of the Supreme Commander
of the Iraqi Armed Forces, the prime minister Nouri
al-Maliki," he said.
The Kurdish units will not take sides in the
sectarian violence and only fight factions and help
restore stability, he says.
Mohammad al-Sa'di, a Mahdi Army commander in the al-Huria
neighbourhood of west Baghdad, rules out a
confrontation between the Kurdish troops and the
Shia forces, adding that the two sides have not
clashed militarily in the past.
Sa'di warns against using Kurdish soldiers to crack
down on the Mahdi Army, saying such a move would
only increase ethnic tensions.
Sa'di also says the Mahdi Army has received
instructions from al-Sadr himself not to confront
Iraqi and American forces "whatever the situation".
However, the Mahdi Army will fight the Kurds if they
take sides in the ongoing sectarian struggle, he
says. Most Kurdish troops are Sunni.
"We will force them to leave ( the al-Sadr
stronghold Sadr City) as soon as possible" if that
happens, he said.
DANGEROUS AND DISASTROUS
Being drawn into ongoing ethnic and sectarian strife
is one of the Kurds' biggest fears.
"The troops might become a part of the sectarian
violence that is occurring between Sunnis and Shias,"
said Mahmood Osman, another Kurdish Alliance deputy.
"This would complicate the security problem even
more."
Osman called on the Kurdish leadership to reconsider
its decision to send troops to Baghdad, describing
the deployment as "dangerous and disastrous".
In an effort to explain the Kurdish forces' mission,
the Iraqi government's spokesman Ali al-Dabagh says
it is a standard procedure to use Iraqi troops under
the ministry of defence's command.
"Those Kurdish soldiers have voluntarily joined the
Iraqi army and the Iraqi government has the right to
send them anywhere," he said.
WHERE AND WHAT, EXACTLY?
The Iraqi ministry of defence refused to confirm or
deny that Kurdish troops would be asked to take on
the Mahdi Army.
"The military plan is top secret and neither the
Iraqi government nor the military commanders will
reveal it," said Mohammad al-Asskary, a ministry
spokesman.
The public is as divided as the politicians.
Ahmad Sadiq, 35, an employee in the ministry of
health from Sadr City, says the Kurdish soldiers
will help restore peace and stability to the
capital.
"Their presence will fill in the gap in some of the
areas where there is not a big enough Iraqi Army
presence. The deployment of the Kurdish troops in
the areas controlled by the Mahdi Army will help to
free up Iraqi army units to crack down on Sunni
insurgents in other hot areas," he said.
"Most government forces can't operate effectively in
Mahdi Army controlled areas because they are accused
of favouring the Mahdi Army. But the Kurdish troops
will play a neutral role."
In contrast, many in the Kurdish community in
Baghdad are shocked by the news. Adnan Mohammad, 40,
a Kurdish resident of Baghdad, says he is very
concerned.
"The participation of the Kurdish troops will have a
big negative impact on our security, especially if
these troops take on the Mahdi Army," said Mohammad,
adding that the Mahdi Army might retaliate and make
Kurds the newest victims of ongoing sectarian and
ethic violence.
Hashim Hassan, an analyst at the University of
Baghdad, meanwhile, questions the effectiveness of
the Kurdish troops.
"The expertise that the Kurdish troops have gained
from fighting militants in the Kurdish region will
be useless in Baghdad," said Hassan.
The American and Iraqi forces have already failed to
defeat the militias and insurgents, he pointed out.
Besides, many Kurdish soldiers do not speak Arabic
and don't understand Arabic culture very well, which
may well make it hard to quell the violence in
volatile neighbourhoods, says Hassan.
"This is a war of intelligence not troop numbers,"
he said.
Basim al-Sharaa is an IWPR contributor in
Baghdad.
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