Iraqi Kurds vow no return to centralised rule

deepikaglobal.com ^ | 02-09-03 | deepikaglobal.com

[pkpjamestown]

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq, Feb 9 (Reuters) Iraq's Kurds would never accept a return to centralised government and anything but a federal future for post-Saddam Iraq would cause chaos and regional instability, an Iraqi Kurd leader has said.

Barham Salah, prime minister of one half of the breakaway Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq, added that any U.S. attempt to stop Kurds returning to the oil city of Kirkuk in the event of a U.S. invasion would be tantamount to endorsing ethnic cleansing.

''There is no way the Kurdish people of Iraq would accept reintegration back into a centralised dictatorship in Iraq,'' he told Reuters yesterday.

''The humpty dumpty of Iraqi centralised dictatorship cannot be put back together again. This humpty dumpty had a fall and no matter what it cannot be resurrected unless we have another tyrant that will grip Iraq and its oil revenues and become a danger again to world peace.'' The British-educated engineer made the comments in response to reports that Washington had told Kurdish leaders at a meeting in Turkey that Kurdish forces should stay out of the cities of Kirkuk and Mosul and that Turkish troops would enter north Iraq.

''The message to the Kurds is 'Don't get any ideas, don't take Kirkuk and don't do anything silly','' an Iraqi opposition source said on Friday.

Washington has demanded the use of Turkish bases as a springboard for opening a possible northern front against Baghdad. Turkey is strongly opposed to the Kurds' 12-year-old de-facto autonomy in north Iraq becoming a permanent reality and has sought U.S. assurances on the future of Mosul and Kirkuk.

Both cities lie on the edge of the autonomous zone the Kurds have been running since 1991.

Kirkuk stands at the centre of oilfields producing 900,000 barrels a day and regional states believe oil wealth could lead Kurds to turn their desire for autonomy into demands for independence which might stir up their own Kurdish populations.

''We do not believe the political situation of Kirkuk can be resolved by unilateral military action by the Kurds or for that matter any others,'' said Salah, whose Patriotic Union of Kurdistan forces lie only 40 km (25 miles) from the city.

Once a largely Kurdish city, the Kurds accuse Baghdad of forcing them to leave and replacing them with Arabs.

''We want peace, we want stability, we want democracy and freedom. But without reversing ethnic cleansing, without restitution, there can be no peace, there can be no freedom and there will be chaos,'' Salah said.

''I cannot...believe American GIs will become the guardians of ethnic cleansing,'' he said. ''The United States is about to engage in an endeavour that hopefully will help the people of Iraq liberate their country and attain freedom...'' Asked if he meant Kurdish forces should be allowed into Kirkuk, Salah said: ''I am not saying that.'' The future of the city would be a matter for its original inhabitants to decide.

But, he said, ''I believe every geographic, demographic and historical fact points to Kirkuk being an integral part of the Iraqi Kurdistan region and that has always been the case.'' As for the presence of Turkish forces in Iraq, Salah said: ''We are concerned that a regional military presence in Iraq will complicate issues and one country getting into Iraq could invite others in as well and that could make a chaotic situation.'' But Salah admitted the presence of U.S. officials in the enclave, reported to have landed aircraft in a region controlled by the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party and to have observed positions held by a group accused of al Qaeda links.

''It's an open secret, the Americans come and go,'' he said. ''We are freedom fighters, we have been fighting for our freedom for many years and we welcome international assistance to overcome tyranny.''

[palmer]

Maybe more like Bosnia where we created a federation between groups that hated each other. Currently Saddam is suppressing nationalist ambitions, but that will become our job once he's gone. I for one am not looking forward to it.

[palmer]

I feel somewhat safer with the Turks and Kurds going at it. It's if they start cooperating that really worries me.

[FreeTheHostages]

Thanks. I think I will get a copy. I don't know enough of the history in that area.

[Destro]

''I cannot...believe American GIs will become the guardians of ethnic cleansing,'' he said. ""Yea, but the Albanians managed to do it to the Serbs and Roma under the watchful (or not so watchful) eye of GIs in Kosovo.""

Under NATO "protection" what was done to the Serbs? If NATO could not stop "ethnic cleansing" of Christian Serbs from Albanian Muslims in amuch smaller aare what makes one think they will stop it in Iraq under their occupation?

PS: From the Chechen Muslims to the Albanian ones, LenS has a consistant history of backing the jihadist causes.

[LenS]

Since it's been my belief that we should have nuked every Arab on September 12th, you're a wee bit off. However, since Serbia started the wars by killing Christian Slovenes and Croats and since they've been assisting Saddam, I'm not going to fall for revisionist Serbian propaganda that makes them heroes in the war against Islamofascism. And last I checked, the Turks have been our allies while the Serbs have been the allies of the Russians. So I'm going to give more slack to the Bosnians and Albanians. Besides, those two groups have been cooperating with the US in the fight against Al Qaeda, while Serbia's been helping Saddam's air defense efforts.

And regarding Chechnya, until the Russians decide to give the last ghosts of the USSR and stop helping our enemies in France, China and Iraq, I hope that the Chechens and the Russians continue to bleed each other dry. Russia wants to play both sides. Well, screw them. You're either with us or you're dead.

Serbian stupidity started WWI. Thanks to America, the Kaiser lost the war and the Serbs were rewarded with a conquest of their neighbors (paid for with US blood in France). So the bastardization of a country called Yugoslavia began, giving Serbs a chance to abuse their (mostly Christian) neighbors for almost 80 years. Thanks to America, Serbia was bailed out again from German conquest.

[Destro]

Oh yes after Sept 12.... But before that you and your ils helped create the conditions for 9/11 which was organized out of Muslim held Bosnian and with Kosovo under Muslim Albanian control serves as a conduit for narco-terrorists into the West.

I judge conduct pre-9/11 and I judge you wanting. I still have all your pro-Chechen, pro-Albanian Muslims, Pro Bosnian Muslim posts on file.