|
Iraqi army will attack Kurdistan region within a year, warns
Kurdish MP |
|
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page |
|
Iraqi army will attack Kurdistan region
within a year, warns Kurdish MP
9.7.2012
By Ekurd.net staff writers |
|
|
|
Latif Mustafa, a Gorran List Kurdish MP from the
Iraqi parliament. Photo: Agencies.
•
See Related Links
July
9, 2012
ERBIL-Hewlêr,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — A Gorran List Kurdish MP
from the Iraqi parliament has revealed that the
Iraqi government will attack the Kurdistan Region in
less than a year, but did not add further details.
Latif Mustafa told local Kurdish newspaper Rudaw:
"Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is now trying
to build up and strengthen the army to make its
regime stronger. I believe this government will
attack Kurds."
Mustafa warned: "I have some details about the Iraqi
attack against the Kurdistan Region but I can't
reveal it."
The MP added: "This is as result of some stories and
things I heard and saw in Baghdad. I don’t know when
Iraq will attack the region but probably it will not
be more than a year."
From late March after increased tensions between the
Iraqi and the Kurdish governments, Kurdistan Region
President Massoud Barzani told Alhurra TV that Baghdad
is considering the
use of F-16 fighter planes
against the Kurds.
Barzani told Alhurra that he has confronted the
Iraqi PM many times and been told by Maliki that he
will act, but he hasn’t, and suggested there is talk
of a “military solution” to confront the Kurds in
Baghdad. Barzani said that in an official meeting
with Iraqi military commanders,www.ekurd.net
it was stated that
they should wait for F-16s to arrive to help push
back the Kurds.
On April 10, 2012, the leader of the Brave Sons of
Iraq, Sheikh Abbas
al-Muhammadawi, a spokesperson for the military wing
of the group, the 9th Division of Badr, has
warned Kurds in Baghdad and
other Arab-majority areas to leave or be killed.
The Brave Sons of Iraq, a Shiite group, gave
one-week for Kurds to leave Arab cities after which
they threatened to carry weapons against the them.
On April 11, 2012, in the event that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
launches an offensive against Kurdistan Region,
Kurdistan could "certainly" defend itself, said a
senior official at Kurdistan Region's Peshmarga
Ministry. The Peshmarga (Border Guards) Ministry's
Secretary General, Brig. Jabbar Yawar,
believes that
it is "unlikely" Baghdad will attack Erbil but
"whenever it does...Certainly Kurdistan region is
able to defend itself."
On April 23, 2012, Massoud Barzani, said he
opposes the sale of F-16 warplanes to
Iraq while Nuri al-Maliki is premier, as he fears they would be
used against the region.
The United States has agreed to sell 36 F-16 jets to
Baghdad in a multi-billion-dollar deal aimed at
increasing the capabilities of Iraq's fledgling air
force, a weak point in its national defences.
"The F-16 must not reach the hand of this man,"
Barzani told reporters at his residence near the
Kurdistan region's capital Erbil
on Sunday, referring to Maliki.
On April 30, 2012, in an interview with Rudaw, former U.S.
diplomat and advisor to the Kurdistan Regional
Government KRG Peter Galbraith says Iraqi Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki is not following the
constitution or respecting the rights of Kurdistan.
Galbraith says
the time is ripe for Kurdish independence thanks to
the thriving oil industry, international investment
and the fact that Kurds are America’s only reliable
ally in the volatile region.
On April 30, 2012, a senior official told Reuters
that Iraq will
receive the
first 24 of 36 F-16 fighter jets it has ordered from
the United States at the beginning of 2014.
On May 5, 2012, Massoud Barzani said he did
not fear the federal government
taking delivery of F-16 warplanes bought from the
United States, after last month saying he opposed
the sale of the aircraft while Maliki was premier.
"We did not feel afraid of the MiG and Mirage
aircraft, and we will not feel afraid of the F-16
aircraft," Barzani said in a speech in the Kurdish
regional capital Erbil.
On May 7, 2012, Iraqi PM Maliki said that
his government does
not intend to target the
Kurdistan Region, adding that he is against war.
Maliki said in an interview with the semi-official
Iraqiya TV published on his website: "The federal
government doesn't intent to target the Kurdistan
Region.
On May 7, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visits
Kirkuk city, insisted that Kirkuk had an Iraqi
identity during a cabinet meet
boycotted by Kurdish ministers whose
autonomous region lays claim to the disputed city.
On May 17, 2012 Iraqi Kurdish officials are
threatening to
disclose secret documents
as part of an ongoing dispute with Iraq's Central
Government.
“We have no other choice but to disclose documents
revealing the secrets of [Prime Minister] Nuri
Maliki and his office,” a government spokesperson
said, adding that the documents will
discredit many of the policies actively pursued by
the Iraqi Prime Minister.
On May 27, 2012, Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan
Barzani said the US promises
not to stay silent if Baghdad uses
forces against the Kurdistan Region.
On May 28, 2012, Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan
Barzani
warned of
Baghdad's continued desire for "ethnic cleansing,"
the latest in a series of attacks by Kurdish leaders
on premier Nuri
al-Maliki's leadership. The remarks from Nechirvan
Barzani come amid increasingly fractured ties
between the Baghdad central government and the
Kurdish region.
"Today, there are those in the Iraqi political field
who want, with all the power, to keep the policy of
Arabisation and ethnic cleansing," Barzani said.
On June 19, 2012 Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
believes a contract between U.S. oil giant
ExxonMobil and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region is
dangerous and could
lead to "wars," his spokesman
told AFP.
On July 7, 2012 Kurdish airport directors say Iraq’s
government could close airspace without warning,
meaning planes could not land. The Iraqi
government’s tight control of Kurdish airspace is a
growing concern for Kurdistan’s
airports as political relations between Baghdad and
Erbil continue to sour.
Sources: aknews.com | ekurd.net | rudaw.net |
presstv.com | AP | Reuters | AFP | Agencies
Copyright
© 2012 Ekurd.net. All rights reserved
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page
|
|
|
®
