Home
BAGHDAD, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi government suggested Tuesday to jointly control the security with the Kurdish regional forces in the disputed areas in northern Iraq, in a bid to ease the tension between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region, an official Kurdish website said.
"The ministerial council proposed in its meeting Tuesday to jointly run the security file of the disputed areas between the federal government and Kurdistan region," said the official website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a major Kurdish party.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will send the proposal by his Kurdish deputy Roj Nouri Shawis to the regional government of Kurdistan which will response after discussing it, the website said.
Maliki's move is seen as an attempt to ease the tension between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region that has been running high after the Iraqi central government established a military command, named Tigris Operations Command, to control the security in the disputed areas in the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala and Salahudin.
On Monday, Maliki warned Kurdish regional security forces not to change positions or move close to the positions of central government troops.
Maliki's warning came as response to the deployment of thousands of Kurdish regional forces in the disputed area of Tuz- Khurmato, some 200 km north of Baghdad.
On Friday, skirmishes between the Iraqi forces and the Kurdish regional guard forces (known as Peshmerga) in the city of Tuz- Khurmato led to the killing of an Iraqi soldier and a civilian, and the wounding of four Baghdad soldiers.
Disagreements between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government have been high for years, as the ethnic Kurds consider the northern oil-rich province of Kirkuk and parts of Nineveh, Diyala and Salahudin provinces as disputed areas and want them to be incorporated into their semi-autonomous Kurdish enclave, a move fiercely opposed by the Arabs and Turkomans.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
"The ministerial council proposed in its meeting Tuesday to jointly run the security file of the disputed areas between the federal government and Kurdistan region," said the official website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a major Kurdish party.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will send the proposal by his Kurdish deputy Roj Nouri Shawis to the regional government of Kurdistan which will response after discussing it, the website said.
Maliki's move is seen as an attempt to ease the tension between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region that has been running high after the Iraqi central government established a military command, named Tigris Operations Command, to control the security in the disputed areas in the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala and Salahudin.
On Monday, Maliki warned Kurdish regional security forces not to change positions or move close to the positions of central government troops.
Maliki's warning came as response to the deployment of thousands of Kurdish regional forces in the disputed area of Tuz- Khurmato, some 200 km north of Baghdad.
On Friday, skirmishes between the Iraqi forces and the Kurdish regional guard forces (known as Peshmerga) in the city of Tuz- Khurmato led to the killing of an Iraqi soldier and a civilian, and the wounding of four Baghdad soldiers.
Disagreements between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government have been high for years, as the ethnic Kurds consider the northern oil-rich province of Kirkuk and parts of Nineveh, Diyala and Salahudin provinces as disputed areas and want them to be incorporated into their semi-autonomous Kurdish enclave, a move fiercely opposed by the Arabs and Turkomans.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
