Monday, September 18, 2006
Flag row flares up in Mosul
Politics
In the northern city of Mosul which has a mixed Arab and Kurdish population, many of the Arab inhabitants have raised Iraqi flags in defiance of Barzani's lowering of the Iraqi flag. the flag issue has led to an increase in sectarian and ethnic strife in Mosul. Many are now wearing pins bearing the Iraqi flag and members of the police force have said they will leave the force and take up arms against anyone trying to remove the Iraqi flag which represents the last remaining symbol of the unity of the Iraqi people to the Arabs. However, Barzani, Kurdistan's president says, "The present flag is not the flag of Iraq, but of the Baath party and chemical strikes."
