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British parliamentary group calls for
closer ties with Kurdistan Region
16.2.2008 |
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February 16, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan 'Iraq', -- A group of
British parliamentarians who this week visited
Kurdistan Region will write a report for the UK
parliament and the wider public to encourage greater
understanding, friendship and British investment
into the Region.
The group represented the All-Party Parliamentary
Group (APPG) for the Kurdistan Region, whose remit
is to promote friendship and understanding between
the people of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq and
Britain, and to encourage the development of
democratic institutions in the Kurdistan Region as
part of the democratic and federal process in the
wider Iraq.
Ms Sarah McCarthy-Fry, MP for Portsmouth North, who
chairs the parliamentary group, said, “It is
impossible to visit the Kurdistan Region without
soon understanding its tragic history. It’s also
impossible to miss its huge economic and social
potential.” |
The British parliamentary delegation at the Red
House museum, formerly a notorious Baath
interrogation centre in Sulaimaniyah. |
The delegation met
Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani, Deputy
Prime Minister Omer Fattah, the Speaker of
Parliament Adnan Mufti and other ministers and MPs.
They visited universities, schools, villages, and
residents of the Anfal-genocide collective town of
Banislawa. They met members of the media, trade
unions, political parties as well as the
international and local business community. They
also paid their respects to the 1988 Anfal victims
that were discovered in mass graves and recently
laid to rest in Dukan.
Ms McCarthy-Fry was accompanied by Mr Dave Anderson,
MP for Blaydon, Mr Eric Joyce, MP for Falkirk, and
Mr Gary Kent, Director of Labour Friends of Iraq.
While the MPs are members of the Labour Party,
during their visit they represented all three main
British political parties in the parliamentary
group.
Mr Anderson, who visited the Region with Mr Kent two
years ago, said, “Having returned to the Kurdistan
Region, I’m delighted to see that it has made some
progress in its infrastructure but it’s clear that a
lot still remains to be done. I believe that it is
the duty of democrats everywhere to give their
support to the Kurdish people and to their desire to
see the development of a democratic, federal and
pluralistic Iraq in which the Kurdistan Region can
act as a beacon.”
Ms Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the KRG's High
Representative to the UK, said, "The delegation saw
all aspects of Kurdistan during this visit and heard
both about our dark history and our hopes and aims
for the future,www.ekurd.net
in particular our
commitment to democracy and economic growth. They
have shown themselves to be true friends of
Kurdistan - offering support and advice, as well as
constructive criticism. We look forward to their
report and their next visit."
krg org
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