|
Kurds See Political Motive Behind Border
Closure
14.4.2007
By Wrya Hama-Tahir in Munthiriya (ICR No. 218,
13-Apr-07) |
|
|
|
Kurdish traders hit hard by border crossing closure
- seen by some as bid by Baghdad to put
squeeze on Iraqi-Kurdistan.
April
14, 2007
Kurdistan region (Iraq)
The closure of a major crossing point on the
Iraq-Iran border two months ago is an attempt by the
government to undermine the Iraqi-Kurdistan region,
some senior Kurdish figures believe.
Hundreds of mainly Kurdish traders have lost
substantial sums of money, since the Munthiriya
crossing was closed on February 15.
As well as losses incurred from not being able to
deliver goods to customers, the traders are also
paying to keep their merchandise in storage.
All entry points into Iraq were shut as part of the
Iraqi government’s efforts to support the new
Baghdad security plan - a joint US-Iraqi operation
to secure and stabilise the capital, launched more
than a month ago.
Border posts were soon re-opened, with one exception
- Munthiriya, the only official crossing point
between Iraq and Iran in the Kurdistan region, which
is only opened only for fuel deliveries.
Kurds now suspect ulterior political motives behind
the closure of this crossing point, so vital to
Kurdish economic interests.
Munthiriya, which lies seven kilometres west of the
Kurdish-controlled town of Khanaqin, is administered
by the Arab province of Diyala, but guarded by
Kurdish soldiers, part of a brigade of 1,500 men -
reporting to the Iraqi ministry of defence - which
patrols a 200km stretch of the frontier with Iran.
One of the fiercest frontlines during the Iran-Iraq
war from 1980 to 1988, it is now considered the
safest part of the border between the two countries.
While it was in operation, around 90 trucks - full
of food, fuel, construction materials and
merchandise, such as electrical appliances - crossed
the frontier at Munthiriya every day, along with
dozens of people.
According to Kurdish officials, the central
government in Baghdad has given no clear reason for
keeping the crossing point closed, despite repeated
requests to either explain the decision or to
re-open it.
The Kurdish brigade guarding this stretch of the
border has received dozens of letters of support
from both Iraqi and American officials for the tight
security they maintain.
According to figures provided by the border
authorities, thousands of people have been arrested
for illegally crossing the frontier since the Iraqi
war in 2003.
Since then, there has been only one violent border
incident, during which insurgents were forced to
retreat after facing fierce resistance from the
soldiers.
"Our border has been the safest one and we have
never let terrorists infiltrate [Iraq] from here,"
said Brigadier Sarchil Abdul-Kareem, a brigade
spokesman.
Abdul-Kareem said that he believes the Baghdad
security plan was not the real reason for the border
closure, claiming that the move was part of an
“Arabization policy”, alluding to the former Ba’ath
regime’s strategy of expelling Kurds from certain
areas and replacing them with Arabs.
Last year, the Iraqi government sent an Arab
brigadier-general with Arab forces from the south to
replace Kurdish units in the area. But under
pressure from local Kurds, the Arabs returned south.
The Iraqi government has now opened a new crossing
point at Zirbata in the province Kut, in southeast
Iraq, to replace Munthiriya.
There are two other border crossings in eastern
Iraqi-Kurdistan - Bashmakh and Haji Omeran - which
are under the control of the Kurdistan regional
government.
They are not as wide as Munthiriya, open for limited
trade only, and are not recognised by Iran as
official crossing points.
"This (Munthiriya) was an international
crossing-border, but they have closed it… so that
the economy of Kurdistan will not develop," said
Brigadier Abdul-Kareem.
But Brigadier Khalid Suleiman, head of border
administration in the Munthiriya area, said that
while the authorities haven’t told him the reason
for the closure, he doesn’t believe it is a
politically motivated move.
After becoming frustrated with central government
over the border crossing issue, a number of Kurdish
officials - including Nechirvan Barzani, prime
minister of the Kurdistan regional government - have
sought to put pressure on Baghdad to reopen
Munthiriya.
They have spoken to the Iraqi council of ministers
and the ministry of interior - but to no avail.
Brigadier-General Nazim Shareef, in charge of
Kurdish troops at the border, refused to comment,
saying he has been ordered not to speak to the
media.
The frontier authorities at Munthiriya report that
around 1,000 workers, drivers and businessmen have
lost their jobs because of the closure.
Ari Khalid Mahmood, 27, a food trader who regularly
uses the crossing point, said, "My partners and I
have lost a lot of money. We are still paying for a
cargo of rice in storage on the other side of the
border."
Rather than travel south to use the new border
crossing at Zirbata, Mahmood pays 1,300 US dollars a
month to keep his 80 tonnes of goods in storage on
the Iranian side of the frontier.
"We are not familiar with the geography of the south
and we don’t want to put our lives in danger," he
said.
He said that he is unwilling to use another crossing
after a friend of his tried unsuccessfully to ship a
consignment of goods from Basra. The cargo was
confiscated by militants on its way to
Iraqi-Kurdistan.
Like some senior Kurdish figures, he believes the
Iraqi government wants to hurt the economy of the
Kurdistan region. "The Iraqi government doesn’t want
the Kurdish areas to flourish economically," he
said.
But Abas al-Bayati, a member of the security and
defense committee in the Iraqi government, insisted
that the closure of Munthiriya was due to security
concerns along the border.
"There are movements of Mujahideen al-Khalq (an
Iranian opposition group) and some other armed
groups," he said, adding that Iraqi troops had been
deployed along the Iranian border in Dyala province
to combat these groups.
Bayati said that other border crossings had been
opened to compensate for the closure of Munthiriya,
dismissing claims that it had been shut for
political reasons.
Wrya Hama-Tahir is an IWPR trainee reporter.
iwpr.net
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 