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Articles - Kirkuk not persuaded by Odierno's proposal
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8-Jul-10 [17:59] |
PNA - Kirkuk – The representatives of Kirkuk national communities see the remarks by Raymond Odierno, the current Commanding General of the US forces in Iraq for deploying UN peace-keeping forces in the pending areas, not as a solution but as an potion to replace the US forces after their due pull out from Iraq.
In a recent statement to Associated Press, Odierno claimed that if prior to the US pull out by 2011, a tension between the Arabs and Kurds breaks out, sending peace-keeping forces to the pending areas is indispensable.
The joint forces, composed of the US forces, Iraqi police and Army , as well as the Kurdish Peshmargah forces cooperate well, said Abdullah Sami al-'Asi, arguing "But the Iraqis should take the responsibility of protecting their own country without the UN peace-keeping forces' Yet, this takes collaboration and agreement".
Al-'Asi hoped that the security state in Kirkuk and the other pending areas between Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi Government will not necessitate the UN forces.
This Arab member of the Kirkuk Provincial Council also noted "Sadly, the situation in Kirkuk is deteriorating, and recently murder, abduction, and explosions have harassed the residents".
To protest the inaction of the security governmental and nongovernmental institutions in the Province against the current violations, the Arab members in Kirkuk Provincial Council "boycotted the weekly meeting of the Council", al-'Asi added.
Another member of the Council from the Turcomani list told AKnews that they opposed forming the tripartite joint forces since the very beginning as Turcomans were not admitted to it.
The Turcoman member, Najat Hussein also believed that positioning the UN peace-keeping forces cannot settle the issue.
"The Iraqi Army is nearly 90 percent Arabic while Kurds are the second community; therefore, Baghdad cannot take any step without the approval of Kurds", Hussein explained, noting that Turcomans are thus squeezed in between.
"We had asked to from a special division from the Turcomans to aid the tripartite forces in the operations", he added, saying that if the quest was accomplished there was no need for outsiders to protect Kirkuk.
As for the remarks by the US Commanding General in Iraq, Hussein believed that neither the current joint forces nor the UN peace-Keeping forces can alleviate the pending territories.
The US forces are bound to pull out from Iraq and proposing for the UN forces to settle in Iraq is in line with their strategy; they want the UN forces to replace them in the country, according to Hussein.
"The security of the pending areas, including Kirkuk, is still under the control of the US forces, and so far they have not consulted Kirkuk Council", said Ibrahim Khalil, a member of the Council from Kurdish Brayati (Brotherhood) list.
Khalil did not expect any change in the situation even if the US forces would be replaced by the UN peace keeping forces.
Kirkuk Police Chief, Sarahd Qadir also believed that the joint forces have best observed their duties in the pending areas and they continue the hard work.
"It is early to tell if these joint forces can settle the issues by the next year because the security situation in Iraq keeps changing and we cannot expect what precisely may happen and decide whether we need the replacing forces", he added.
Following the proposal by General Odierno, in 2009 a joint force comprising the US forces, the Iraqi Army and Police, as well as the Kurdish Peshamrgah forces, take the responsibility of protecting the pending areas within Mosul, Kirkuk, Diyala, and Salahaddin Provinces.
According to the security pact signed between Iraq and the US, the latter's forces are expected to have withdrawn finally from Iraq on December, 31, 2011.
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