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Kurdistan: Halabjans wary of new aid
pledges
15.3.2008
By Azeez Mahmood in Halabja and Mariwan Hama-Saeed in
Washington (ICR No. 249)
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Locals commemorating twentieth anniversary of
chemical attacks recall past broken promises.
March 15, 2008
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region 'Iraq
The Kurdish town of Halabja, site of a brutal
chemical weapons attack by Saddam Hussein’s forces,
is being promised millions of US dollars of aid,
after years of neglect.
But locals are sceptical of the aid pledge - which
comes as they prepare to mark the twentieth
anniversary of the bombing outrage - and are angry
with the Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG, for not
sponsoring this year’s commemorations.
The Iraqi cabinet this week pledged six million
dollars-worth of assistance for Halabja and said it
would investigate and sue the companies that
supplied the chemical weapons used on the town, as
it prepares for the twentieth anniversary of the
bombing outrage.
The KRG and the province of Sulaimaniyah, where
Halabja is located, have also said they will provide
about 23 million dollars, according to Halabja mayor
Fouad Salih.
If the funding comes through, it will be the largest
aid that Halabja has received since many parts of
the town were destroyed on March 16, 1988. An
estimated 5,000 people were killed and 10,000
injured when the Iraqi regime attacked the town with
internationally-banned chemical weapons including VX,
sarin and mustard gas.
Residents of this town of about 80,000 often
complain that the Kurdish government has done little
to improve Halabja's healthcare,www.ekurd.net
roads, schools and
houses, many of which have remained piles of rubble
for the past two decades.
Many Kurds consider Halabja a symbol of suffering
under Saddam Hussein, but Salih said that efforts
are being made to improve the quality of life there.
“The year 2007 was a milestone in rehabilitating
Halabja, and many millions of dollars were spent,”
said Salih. “This year, there will be even more
projects.”
The provincial government has promised six billion
Iraqi dinars (5 million dollars) for healthcare,
road and sewage systems, according to Salih. The
Kurdish government has offered four million dollars
to renovate a deteriorating 100-bed hospital and 13
million dollars to build a hospital for victims of
the attacks,www.ekurd.net
as well as three schools
at an approximate cost of 800 million dinars each.
The KRG said it would commit 13 million dollars for
the hospital in 2006, but has not broken ground on
the project yet.
Halabja residents have given news of the funding
pledges a cautious welcome.
“I can’t comment until I see results,” said Falah
Najm, a 21-year-old Halabja resident, reflecting
widespread feeling. “We are totally discouraged
because of all the broken promises of the past few
years.”
The six million dollars pledged by the central
government is Baghdad’s largest aid contribution to
Halabja. In a press release, the government said the
funds will be used to help reconstruct the town, but
did not specify how the money will be spent.
The cabinet did not detail which companies it
planned to investigate for selling the chemical
weapons. But the decision to hold an investigation
was praised in the northern Kurdish region.
“We welcome this news,” said KRG spokesman Jamal
Abdulla. “We feel responsible for the people of
Halabja, and we will do whatever we can to help move
the case forward.”
“We are very happy with the central government’s
decision to provide services for Halabja,” said
Luqman Abdul-Qadir, head of the Society for Chemical
Weapons Victims of Halabja. “But the Kurdish
government should have taken this initiative a long
time ago.”
Abdulla said that the KRG built 500 houses last year
in Halabja and plans to build another 1,000 homes in
2008.
Citing a lack of funds, the KRG decided not to
sponsor an annual commemoration for the victims.
Tensions between the KRG and residents have run high
since the 2006 event, when Kurdish forces fired on
demonstrators holding an anti-government protest
over the lack of services in the town. Abdulla said
the 2006 clashes did not influence the government’s
decision to pull-out this year.
The KRG has sponsored commemorations for Halabja
victims since the region obtained semi-autonomy from
Saddam’s regime in 1991.
Halabja will hold ceremonies on March 16 to honour
the victims of the attack with speeches, music and a
play, paid for by Sulaimaniyah province, said Salih.
He said the budget will be 40 million dinars.
The lack of financial support from the KRG has not
gone down well with residents, however.
Not sponsoring the commemoration “downplays the
importance of the event”, said Abdul-Qadir.
Komar Mohammed, a 32-year-old teacher who lost eight
relatives in the chemical attack, described the
symbolism of the Halabja anniversary.
"Every year, I am reminded of the disaster on this
day, and it's very painful for me," he said. "It
reminds me how, on this day, hundreds of defenceless
people were killed. The world watched, and no one
defended them.
"I really hope officials will pay attention to the
families of the victims. They've suffered for a long
time, and they need help."
Azeez Mahmood is an IWPR-trained journalist in
Sulaimaniyah. Mariwan Hama-Saeed is IWPR’s Iraq
editor.
iwpr net
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