|
The Peaceful Land of Northern Iraq
(Kurdistan) ?
13.6.2007
|
|
|
|
June
13, 2007
Erbil, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- Anyone
planning a trip to Northern Iraq should be prepared
to be repeatedly questioned by the Iraqi Kurdish
authorities.
As CBN News discovered firsthand, the Kurds are
trying to keep the violence of Baghdad from
spreading to the northern regions of Iraq.
There are hundreds of checkpoints leading in and out
of all the major cities and one would not be
permitted to enter the cities without having the
proper papers.
"Erbil is growing and so we need to keep an eye on
those coming and going out of our city. If you don't
have these checkpoints, people can easily slip into
the city and cause us harm," Kurdish policeman
Bilbas Shaker said.
Those who run security are committed to building a
safe and prosperous Kurdistan.
"We are united and determined not to let this area
turn into another Baghdad," this Kurdish soldier
tells me. And it appears to be working," Persh Merga
soldier Muhammed Salim said.
On the streets of Erbil, Iraq's fourth largest city,
people are enjoying a level of peace and security
not seen in the rest of Iraq.
Walking down the street in any other part of Iraq
could be fatal. Not so in Erbil. The residents here
like to boast that since March 2003, not a single
coalition or American soldier has died nor a single
foreigner been kidnapped.
The public has played a big role.
"We have a responsibility to immediately call the
authorities if we see anything suspicious or know of
people who are planning to secretly do bad things,"
Erbil resident Kharman Ibrahim said.
Earlier this month, the U.S.-led coalition handed
security control of four major cities in the north
over to the Kurdish government - a sign that many
Kurds in Erbil say is proof that something good can
come out of Iraq after all.
cbn com
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 