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US troops start joint operations in Iraq's disputed
zones
26.1.2010
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January 26, 2010
BAGHDAD,
— American troops have started joint
operations with Iraqi and Kurdish forces in Iraq's
disputed northern zones in an effort to dampen
tensions between Kurds and Sunni Arabs, the US army
said Tuesday.
The deal marks a new chapter in the US military's
role since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam
Hussein as it could once again see them involved in
full-scale operations in urban areas.
General Ray Odierno, the top US officer in Iraq,
told reporters training had began three weeks ago in
the provinces of Kirkuk, Nineveh and Diyala and that
about 70 percent of the tripartite force's
checkpoints had been established.
"By January 31 they (checkpoints) will all be manned
and we will begin joint security patrols," he said,
without specifying how many American soldiers had
been deployed.
"It is about protecting the population... who have
been targets of Al-Qaeda and others who are trying
to exploit political differences.
"This force has been put together in an attempt to
stop the vulnerability of people in the disputed
areas."
Kurdish leaders want their autonomous region, which
currently consists of three distinct provinces, to
be expanded into historically Kurdish-inhabited
parts of Nineveh and Diyala as well as all of
Kirkuk.
Baghdad, however, says the Kurdish region's borders
should not extend past its existing provinces of
Arbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk.
The US military, which presently has 107,000 troops
in Iraq, believes that tension between Sunni Arabs
and Kurds is the main driver of instability in the
country and a major threat to its long term future.
The deal to set up the joint force was first mooted
by Odierno in August last year and he held
discussions with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
and Kurdistan regional president Massoud Barzani,www.ekurd.netwhose
approval was needed.
US combat troops exited Iraq's cities, towns and
villages in June last year and are scheduled to
leave completely by August. All American soldiers
must withdraw from the country by the end of 2011
under a landmark security agreement signed between
Baghdad and Washington.
Odierno did not reveal the conditions for
establishing the new tripartite force but has
previously said the need for US soldiers to be
stationed in villages in the disputed zones could
require an exception to be made to the existing
security accord.
"There'll be some political challenges to it but we
will work our way through it," Odierno said. "I have
spoken to most of the local political leaders and
Deputy Prime Minister (Rafa) Essawi (a Sunni) has
helped me with that."
Odierno said that some Kurdish Peshmerga fighters
had been killed in the disputed zones but there had
yet been no attacks on the new, joint force.
"I have been very pleased with how it has gone so
far. Cooperation has been very, very good," he
added.
Copyright,
respective author or news agency, AFP
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