Friday, August 17, 2007
Iraqi Yazidis speak out
Security
(BBC) -- The bomb attacks in northern Iraq on Tuesday targeted the Yazidi sect - a vulnerable religious minority. People in the area are due to vote on whether to come under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government later this year. Two Yazidis reflect on the bombings and why they happened.
Khidir Domle, 39, Yazidi Journalist, Dohuk: "The attacks were not totally unexpected, because the security situation in the area had been getting worse every day. Several of our relatives were hit. Two of them are dead, six are wounded and three others from one single family are still missing and we don't know where they are.
We don't know if they have been moved to hospitals in Talafar, a town near Mosul, or not. I think the motives for the attacks are ethnic - those people were Kurdish - as well as religious. Even neighbouring Arab villages had been threatening Yazidis, trying to stop them voting for Kurdistan in forthcoming polls. Over the past two weeks, the threat from extremist groups like al-Qaeda had also increased.
Yazidis constitute the majority in the area that was targeted; the attacks were aimed at intimidating people. Iraqi government security forces are in charge there, because it is close to the Syrian border. Those forces are not able to control the borders. Kurdish security forces have little influence there. A few weeks ago dozens of local security and police forces quit their jobs because of threats by terrorists.
Such bombings may encourage people even more to vote to become part of Kurdistan in a referendum. But what will encourage them most is the promise of better services for people in the area."
Elias Baba Sheikh, 51: Elias is a local official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two main Kurdish political parties. "None of my close relatives was affected by the attack, but I consider all Yazidis to be my relatives. Dozens of houses have been reduced to rubble. The exact number of the casualties is not clear yet. In the Azadi hospital of Dohuk, I saw many injured lying on beds, many of them in a critical condition. The major motive behind the attacks was obviously political, because the people targeted had already shown their tendency to join areas administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
There were also religious motives. These people even kill Muslims, so why wouldn't they kill Yazidis? The impact of these bombings is that it will strengthen people's resolve to hold a referendum and carry out article 140 of the constitution. [Article 140 calls for a referendum in areas claimed by both Kurds and Arabs on whether they should come under Kurdish government control.] A statement by Yazidi religious and political leaders called on the Kurdish Regional Government to send Kurdish forces to the area to protect them."
Khidir Domle, 39, Yazidi Journalist, Dohuk: "The attacks were not totally unexpected, because the security situation in the area had been getting worse every day. Several of our relatives were hit. Two of them are dead, six are wounded and three others from one single family are still missing and we don't know where they are.
We don't know if they have been moved to hospitals in Talafar, a town near Mosul, or not. I think the motives for the attacks are ethnic - those people were Kurdish - as well as religious. Even neighbouring Arab villages had been threatening Yazidis, trying to stop them voting for Kurdistan in forthcoming polls. Over the past two weeks, the threat from extremist groups like al-Qaeda had also increased.
Yazidis constitute the majority in the area that was targeted; the attacks were aimed at intimidating people. Iraqi government security forces are in charge there, because it is close to the Syrian border. Those forces are not able to control the borders. Kurdish security forces have little influence there. A few weeks ago dozens of local security and police forces quit their jobs because of threats by terrorists.
Such bombings may encourage people even more to vote to become part of Kurdistan in a referendum. But what will encourage them most is the promise of better services for people in the area."
Elias Baba Sheikh, 51: Elias is a local official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two main Kurdish political parties. "None of my close relatives was affected by the attack, but I consider all Yazidis to be my relatives. Dozens of houses have been reduced to rubble. The exact number of the casualties is not clear yet. In the Azadi hospital of Dohuk, I saw many injured lying on beds, many of them in a critical condition. The major motive behind the attacks was obviously political, because the people targeted had already shown their tendency to join areas administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
There were also religious motives. These people even kill Muslims, so why wouldn't they kill Yazidis? The impact of these bombings is that it will strengthen people's resolve to hold a referendum and carry out article 140 of the constitution. [Article 140 calls for a referendum in areas claimed by both Kurds and Arabs on whether they should come under Kurdish government control.] A statement by Yazidi religious and political leaders called on the Kurdish Regional Government to send Kurdish forces to the area to protect them."
Labels: Article 140, Iraqi Yazidis, KRG, referendum
Monday, July 16, 2007
MPs opposing draft oil law want to put it to referendum
Oil
(Azzaman) - Iraqi legislators opposing the new draft law for the exploration of oil and the distribution of oil revenues say its passage should be determined by the Iraqi people. Representatives for power blocs have suggested holding a nation-wide referendum to determine whether the Iraqi people are happy about its terms.
The draft law, which the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has passed, needs the parliament’s approval to become law. The law’s opponents have prepared a bill calling for a new referendum which, in their opinion, will spare the country further infighting and division. The draft oil law if passed without substantial amendments is bound to deepen divisions between various Iraqi political factions and different sects.
The draft was revised by the State Consultative Council, the highest judicial body whose decisions are binding, but the revisions were turned down by the Kurds, the second largest bloc in the current coalition government. “The amendments the council had introduced were unacceptable because they would have undermined the prerogatives of the Kurdish autonomous region,” said Ashti Horami, minister of natural resource in the Kurdish regional government.
The draft’s opponents say the government and the parliament are under obligation to take into account the amendments by the judicial council. According to the amendments the central government should be he only body with power to sign oil contracts, and handle oil exports and proceeds. But the Kurds and their Shiite allies want regional and provincial governments to have the authority to sign oil deals and determine other issues related to extraction, refining and exports.
Most of Iraq’s oil wealth is in the predominantly Shiite provinces in southern Iraq. The fields of Basra and Missan hold more than 65% of the country’s proven reserves estimated at 115 billion barrels. Other major oil fields are situation in Kirkuk, a disputed province which the Kurds say they are determined to annex. Central Iraq, a predominantly Sunni region, is the poorest in the country with regard to oil fields; hence most of the opposition to the draft law comes from Sunni factions in the parliament.
The draft law, which the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has passed, needs the parliament’s approval to become law. The law’s opponents have prepared a bill calling for a new referendum which, in their opinion, will spare the country further infighting and division. The draft oil law if passed without substantial amendments is bound to deepen divisions between various Iraqi political factions and different sects.
The draft was revised by the State Consultative Council, the highest judicial body whose decisions are binding, but the revisions were turned down by the Kurds, the second largest bloc in the current coalition government. “The amendments the council had introduced were unacceptable because they would have undermined the prerogatives of the Kurdish autonomous region,” said Ashti Horami, minister of natural resource in the Kurdish regional government.
The draft’s opponents say the government and the parliament are under obligation to take into account the amendments by the judicial council. According to the amendments the central government should be he only body with power to sign oil contracts, and handle oil exports and proceeds. But the Kurds and their Shiite allies want regional and provincial governments to have the authority to sign oil deals and determine other issues related to extraction, refining and exports.
Most of Iraq’s oil wealth is in the predominantly Shiite provinces in southern Iraq. The fields of Basra and Missan hold more than 65% of the country’s proven reserves estimated at 115 billion barrels. Other major oil fields are situation in Kirkuk, a disputed province which the Kurds say they are determined to annex. Central Iraq, a predominantly Sunni region, is the poorest in the country with regard to oil fields; hence most of the opposition to the draft law comes from Sunni factions in the parliament.
Labels: draft oil law, referendum, State Consultative Council
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Committee to seek extension on constitutional amendments
Politics
(AP) - A parliamentary committee set up to study amendments to Iraq's constitution has failed to agree on a number of issues and will seek a weeklong extension of its deadline to present a report to parliament, lawmakers said Monday. The 30-member committee was to present its report Tuesday - four months after it was established. Amending the constitution to address Sunni Arab concerns is one of the key benchmarks for measuring political progress in Iraq.
But the committee was unable to agree on recommendations and lawmakers said it would ask for an extension until May 22, the next time parliament is scheduled to meet. Iraqi politicians said the major stumbling block was a provision about the future of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which the Kurds want to annex into their semiautonomous northern region. Arabs and Turkomen object. The constitution provides for a referendum by the end of the year in which Kirkuk residents will decide whether the area joins the Kurdish region or remains under central government authority.
Lawmakers cited other differences, including whether to describe Iraq as an Arab country as Sunnis have demanded, and the powers of the prime minister. But some Sunni officials said the widest differences were over Kirkuk. Iraqis ratified the constitution in an October 2005 referendum, but substantial numbers of Sunni Arabs voted against it. The document was hammered out during protracted negotiations under intense U.S. pressure. At the time, U.S. officials acknowledged the document did not satisfy Sunnis, but argued the differences could be resolved later by amendments.
Sunni leaders agreed to sign off on the draft only after the Shiites and Kurds agreed to study amendments. Under the constitution, the committee's recommendations will be voted on by parliament as a single package. If adopted by a simple majority, the amendments will be presented to the voters in a referendum. Sunni Arabs, as well as some politicians from the majority Shiites, fear the Kurds may decide to break with Iraq and establish their own independent country if they get their hands on Kirkuk's vast oil wealth.
Sunni Arabs have proposed extending the deadline for the referendum for a year, according to Sunni Arab lawmaker Omar Abdul-Sattar. Salim Abdullah, another Sunni Arab lawmaker, said a compromise was under study, but declined to give details. Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish lawmaker, said the Kurdish bloc in parliament remained adamant that a referendum on Kirkuk be held before the end of the year.
The lawmakers said the committee was still studying amendments to reduce the powers of the prime minister and give a bigger say in running he country to the president and his two deputies. President Jalal Talabani is a Kurd. His two deputies are Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, and Adil Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite. Al-Hashemi has been pressing for a greater role for the three-man presidential council to offset what he sees as al-Maliki's excessive powers.
But the committee was unable to agree on recommendations and lawmakers said it would ask for an extension until May 22, the next time parliament is scheduled to meet. Iraqi politicians said the major stumbling block was a provision about the future of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which the Kurds want to annex into their semiautonomous northern region. Arabs and Turkomen object. The constitution provides for a referendum by the end of the year in which Kirkuk residents will decide whether the area joins the Kurdish region or remains under central government authority.
Lawmakers cited other differences, including whether to describe Iraq as an Arab country as Sunnis have demanded, and the powers of the prime minister. But some Sunni officials said the widest differences were over Kirkuk. Iraqis ratified the constitution in an October 2005 referendum, but substantial numbers of Sunni Arabs voted against it. The document was hammered out during protracted negotiations under intense U.S. pressure. At the time, U.S. officials acknowledged the document did not satisfy Sunnis, but argued the differences could be resolved later by amendments.
Sunni leaders agreed to sign off on the draft only after the Shiites and Kurds agreed to study amendments. Under the constitution, the committee's recommendations will be voted on by parliament as a single package. If adopted by a simple majority, the amendments will be presented to the voters in a referendum. Sunni Arabs, as well as some politicians from the majority Shiites, fear the Kurds may decide to break with Iraq and establish their own independent country if they get their hands on Kirkuk's vast oil wealth.
Sunni Arabs have proposed extending the deadline for the referendum for a year, according to Sunni Arab lawmaker Omar Abdul-Sattar. Salim Abdullah, another Sunni Arab lawmaker, said a compromise was under study, but declined to give details. Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish lawmaker, said the Kurdish bloc in parliament remained adamant that a referendum on Kirkuk be held before the end of the year.
The lawmakers said the committee was still studying amendments to reduce the powers of the prime minister and give a bigger say in running he country to the president and his two deputies. President Jalal Talabani is a Kurd. His two deputies are Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, and Adil Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite. Al-Hashemi has been pressing for a greater role for the three-man presidential council to offset what he sees as al-Maliki's excessive powers.
Labels: Article 140, Iraqi constitution, Kirkuk, referendum
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Kirkuk referendum put off for two years
Politics, Region
(Azzaman) Iraq and Turkey have agreed to put off a contentious referendum on the fate of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk for two years. The referendum was scheduled to occur in July and was expected to decide whether the city and its giant oil fields will be annexed to the semi-independent Kurdish entity in the north.
Non-Kurdish communities in the Province of Tameen, of which Kirkuk is capital, had threatened to use all options including violence in order not to let Kirkuk slip away from the control of the central government in Baghdad. The decision to have the referendum postponed was taken during a recent visit by Vice-president Adel Abdulmahdi to Ankara.
The Turkish authorities had warned that they might resort to military force if the Kurds went ahead with plans to annex Kirkuk. The city has a sizeable Turkish community known as Turkmen and the majority apparently rejects the bid by Kurds to own the city.
Under the country’s provisional institution conditions in Kirkuk will have to be normalized which means that the tens of thousands of Arabs moved to the city under the former regime should be resettled in their original areas. The Kurds who were forced to evacuate the city should be given the opportunity to return. But it seems it is almost impossible to apply the measure amid the mounting violence and lack of security. Kirkuk itself is seen as one of the most restive areas in Iraq. The agreement with Ankara to postpone the referendum is bound to allay Arab and Turkmen’s fears, albeit temporarily, of an imminent Kurdish move to control the city.
Non-Kurdish communities in the Province of Tameen, of which Kirkuk is capital, had threatened to use all options including violence in order not to let Kirkuk slip away from the control of the central government in Baghdad. The decision to have the referendum postponed was taken during a recent visit by Vice-president Adel Abdulmahdi to Ankara.
The Turkish authorities had warned that they might resort to military force if the Kurds went ahead with plans to annex Kirkuk. The city has a sizeable Turkish community known as Turkmen and the majority apparently rejects the bid by Kurds to own the city.
Under the country’s provisional institution conditions in Kirkuk will have to be normalized which means that the tens of thousands of Arabs moved to the city under the former regime should be resettled in their original areas. The Kurds who were forced to evacuate the city should be given the opportunity to return. But it seems it is almost impossible to apply the measure amid the mounting violence and lack of security. Kirkuk itself is seen as one of the most restive areas in Iraq. The agreement with Ankara to postpone the referendum is bound to allay Arab and Turkmen’s fears, albeit temporarily, of an imminent Kurdish move to control the city.
Labels: Kirkuk, referendum, Turkey
