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Kurdistan president's spokesman says Iraq
PM for 'militarisation'
17.7.2012 |
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Omed Sabah, the spokesman for Iraq's Kurdistan
regional president. Photo: UKS
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July 17, 2012
ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — The
spokesman for Iraq's Kurdistan regional president
sharply criticised national premier Nuri al-Maliki
on Tuesday for allegedly militarising Iraqi society
and using violence for political ends, AFP reported.
Omed Sabah's remarks come with relations between the
federal government in Baghdad and Kurdish
authorities in Erbil at a low ebb over multiple
festering disputes, and with Kurdistan president
Massoud Barzani having supported efforts to pass a
no-confidence motion against Maliki.
In a statement, Sabah said the Iraqi premier had
"plans for the militarisation of Iraqi society and
supports the option of violence as a means to reach
political aims."
He added that there was "no doubt that he is going
deeper and further with practices that are contrary
to the simplest democratic values and principles of
partnership."
Iraq has agreed to acquire American military
equipment worth more than $10 billion, including 36
F-16 warplanes which are not expected to be
delivered for years, but also tanks, artillery,
helicopters and patrol boats.
The F-16 deal has raised alarm bells in the northern
Kurdistan region, with Barzani saying earlier this
year he was opposed to the sale of the warplanes
while Maliki was premier,www.ekurd.net
fearing they would be used against Kurdistan.
He later tempered those remarks, but regional
premier Nechirvan Barzani, the president's nephew,
warned in May of the continued desire for "ethnic
cleansing" from Iraqi politicians, though he did not
specifically point the finger.
Baghdad and Arbil are also at odds over Kurdistan's
refusal to seek approval from the central government
for oil contracts it has awarded to foreign firms,
and over a swathe of disputed territory in north
Iraq.
Copyright ©, respective author or news agency,
AFP
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