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Maliki says dividing Iraq will cause ‘a sea of blood
5/18/2015
Maliki says dividing Iraq is just what I want
BAGHDAD,— Former Iraqi Prime Minister and now Vice President Nouri al-Maliki said any attempts to divide the country will not be easy and will cause “a sea of blood,” al-Sumaria satellite TV network quoted him as saying on Saturday. “The situation in Iraq, today, is no different from the situation of yesterday. Problems still exist and sectarianism also exists,” Maliki said, claiming that certain states are trying to divide the country.
Maliki’s statements seemed to address on-going issues between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the country’s north over budget payments and and deliveries of weapons to Peshmerga forces fighting against Islamic State (IS) militants.
Kurdish officials in the KRG claim Baghdad has not sent the agreed upon budget payments to Erbil since leaders from both sides signed an oil-revenue sharing deal in December.
Under that deal, the KRG is to export 550,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) to the Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) in Baghdad and via the Ceyhan pipeline to Turkey in return for 17 percent of the overall national budget.
Relations have been further strained by the ongoing battle against IS militants who overran large swathes of the country beginning in 2014.
Erbil has repeatedly appealed to international governments for weapons and military equipment, but many have shied away from directly arming the Peshmerga, opting to send weapons to Baghdad to be distributed among the country’s various forces.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2016 on Friday which in addition to funding the U.S. military, would directly arm Peshmerga and Sunni tribal fighters, effectively bypassing the central government in Baghdad.
Iraqi lawmakers have come out against the bill, calling it an example of U.S. interference in Iraq’s internal issues
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5/18/2015
Maliki says dividing Iraq is just what I want
BAGHDAD,— Former Iraqi Prime Minister and now Vice President Nouri al-Maliki said any attempts to divide the country will not be easy and will cause “a sea of blood,” al-Sumaria satellite TV network quoted him as saying on Saturday. “The situation in Iraq, today, is no different from the situation of yesterday. Problems still exist and sectarianism also exists,” Maliki said, claiming that certain states are trying to divide the country.
Maliki’s statements seemed to address on-going issues between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the country’s north over budget payments and and deliveries of weapons to Peshmerga forces fighting against Islamic State (IS) militants.
Kurdish officials in the KRG claim Baghdad has not sent the agreed upon budget payments to Erbil since leaders from both sides signed an oil-revenue sharing deal in December.
Under that deal, the KRG is to export 550,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) to the Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) in Baghdad and via the Ceyhan pipeline to Turkey in return for 17 percent of the overall national budget.
Relations have been further strained by the ongoing battle against IS militants who overran large swathes of the country beginning in 2014.
Erbil has repeatedly appealed to international governments for weapons and military equipment, but many have shied away from directly arming the Peshmerga, opting to send weapons to Baghdad to be distributed among the country’s various forces.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2016 on Friday which in addition to funding the U.S. military, would directly arm Peshmerga and Sunni tribal fighters, effectively bypassing the central government in Baghdad.
Iraqi lawmakers have come out against the bill, calling it an example of U.S. interference in Iraq’s internal issues
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
