Iraq to Increase Searches of Iran Overflights to Syria

Iraq said today it will step up searches of Iranian flights via its airspace to Syria.

“Because of a lot of information which referred to transportation of weapons, we have increased the activity of inspections,” said Ali Mussawi, a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. “We will carry out more random searches, to be assured that there is no weapons transfer.” (AFP, 30 March).

However, the head of Iraq's civil aviation authority told AFP that no planes had been searched since October. Last week, in a meeting with Maliki, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry criticized Baghdad for turning a blind eye to the Iranian overflights.

Kerry had told reporters while in Baghdad that he “made very clear to the prime minister that the overflights from Iran are in fact helping to sustain President Assad and his regime.” (AFP)

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the rebel Free Syria Army, Alaa Al-Basha, said that a number of IRGC personnel were injured on Thursday when an Iranian plane was shot down by FSA and caught fire after landing at a runway at Damascus airport. (Al-Arabiya, 29 March)

The state-run media in Syria has denied the incidence. Iran has not confirmed nor denied the report.

File photo: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad. 24 March, 2013. (Jason Reed/Reuters/The Daily Star)

Iraq Parliament Passes Law to Prevent Third Term for Maliki

Iraqi parliament passed a law on Saturday intended to prevent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki from seeking a third term. Maliki’s coalition in Parliament boycotted the vote. The parliamentary move came in the aftermath of anti-Maliki street protests that turned violent on Friday in Falluja.

An official close to Maliki called it unconstitutional and vowed to appeal to the federal courts, which in practice bend to Mr. Maliki’s will.

“We are not worried about the vote on this law,” said Sami al-Askari, a lawmaker from Mr. Maliki’s coalition.“ (It will) not see the light of day.” (New York Times, 26 January)

Maliki began his second term as prime minister after inconclusive elections in 2010. The next election is to be held in 2014.

Photo credit: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (Google News)

A Kurdish State?

David Hirst, the former Middle East correspondent for the Guardian, today has written a piece in Lebanon’s Daily Star entitled, A Kurdish state is being established, and Baghdad may accept it.  Hirst reviews a recent article by Abd al-Jabbar Shabbout, the editor of Baghdad’s daily Al-Sabah and a confident of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Shabbout is offering an Option B to resolve the current crisis in Kurdish-Arab relations: establishing a Kurdish state. To read Hirst’s article, please click here.

File photo: Iraqi Kurdistan (WashPo)

U.S., Iran Seek to Resolve Iraq-Kurdistan Crisis

Iraqi Army will withdraw the units of its newly-formed Dijla Operations Command from disputed areas of Kurdistan. The withdrawal plan was approved by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Kurdish President Massoud Barzani. Under the agreement, the Iraqi federal police and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces will jointly supervise the army’s withdrawal. (Al Hayat/Al Monitor, 7 December)

Meanwhile, Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Danai Far, believed to have helped facilitate the agreement, met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and conveyed Tehran’s support for the agreement and Iran’s preference to find a peaceful solution to the Iraqi-Kurdish crisis.

The U.S. also continued its efforts to contain the crisis. U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited Baghdad on Wednesday and met with Maliki.

File photo: Kurdish Peshmerga troops deployed on the outskirts of Kirkuk. (Azad Lashkari/Reuters/Al Monitor)

Iraqi PM Warns of 'Ethnic Conflict' with Kurds

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki today warned of the danger of ethnic conflict in Iraq, after negotiations between Baghdad and the Kurdistan autonomous government stalled this week.

“If conflict erupts, it would be unfortunate and painful, and it will be an ethnic conflict not in the interest of Kurds nor Arabs nor Turkmen,” Maliki told a news conference in Baghdad. (AFP, 1 December)

Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani has demanded that Baghdad scrap the Dajleh (Tigris) Operations Command, a newly formed military command created by Maliki to operate in disputed territories claimed by Kurds and Arabs. The talks to find a negotiated settlement over the issue ended on Friday without any agreement.  

Maliki defended federal troop movements in the north, saying it is the army's right “to be in any part of Iraq.” He did not, however, respond to questions that if such moves were provocations against the Kurds. It seems that Maliki’s tendency is to resolve the issue of disputed territories by military force. The Kurds have vowed to defend their positions if attacked. And a military conflict in Kurdistan could push the Kurds to declare independence from Baghdad.

File photo: Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki (AFP)