Kurdish militia tighten grip on non-Kurdish districts in Iraq’s Mosul

by Zeena Sami
Azzaman, February 18, 2010

A senior official in the Province of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital has denounced the presence of Kurdish armed militias in several provincial districts and towns.In response, the militias, known locally as peshmerga, have tightened their grip on these areas, arresting and harassing people and officials resisting their rule.

Osama al-Najaifi accused the Kurds of forging documents and counts in order to legitimize their occupation of these areas."The Kurds have controlled these areas through their militias in an attempt to annex them to their region. This is a move which flagrantly violates the law," he said.Kurdish militias are even present in Mosul itself.

At least half of Mosul, the part on the left bank of the Tigris River, is under Kurdish militia occupation.Most attacks targeting Iraqi minorities, particularly Iraqi Christians, have taken place in areas under Kurdish militia control in Mosul.Officially, the provincial districts which the Kurds control, are part of the Province of Nineveh.But Kurdish militias have the last say in them and this week they mounted an arrest campaign which observers say is politically motivated as it comes a few days before the general elections.

The Kurds have put behind bars Hussain Hamadi, the head of the municipal council in the Christian district of Hamdaniya and the head of the police force in the district of Tal Kaif, a few kilometers away from Mosul.

A representative of Yazidis, a religious minority of several hundred thousand followers to the north-west of Mosul, said Kurdish militias of Kurdistan Democratic Party headed by Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdish region, were interfering in his election campaign.

:: Article nr. 63453 sent on 20-feb-2010 02:33 ECT
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