.U.S. rebukes Iraq's Kurds over flag ban
BAGHDAD, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The United States criticised on Tuesday a decision by the leader of Iraq's Kurds to ban the Iraqi national flag, weighing into a bitter dispute that has sparked threats of Kurdish secession.
The U.S. embassy initially called a decree issued by the president of Iraq's Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani "inappropriate" and said it did not enjoy U.S. support.
But in a revised statement later on Tuesday, U.S. envoy in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad said: "Decisions on Iraq's national symbols must be made by the Iraqi people as a whole through an established constitutional process," adding that Washington was committed to "Iraq's unity and territorial integrity".
In the revised statement, the embassy did not give any explanation for deleting parts of the original statement.
After the Kurdish regional government banned the use of the Iraqi flag on public buildings as a symbol of oppression under Saddam Hussein, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite Arab, demanded the use of the red, white and black flag saying only parliament could decide on a new flag.
The dispute over Saddam-era symbols has exposed deeper faultlines between Arabs and Kurds that, along with rising communal tensions between Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs, pose a threat to the unity of post-war Iraq.
Under the constitution, parliament faces deadlines on deciding how Iraq's 18 provinces can join with others to form autonomous federal regions, an explosive issue in the new Iraq.
Members of the Sunni minority, who dominated Iraq under Saddam and made up the core of Saddam's pan-Arab Baath party, fear federalism will lead to Iraq's partition, with Kurds in the north and Shi'ites in the south carving their own regions, cutting them off from Iraq's vast oil resources.
Underscoring tensions among Iraq's warring communities, Saleh al-Mutlaq, an outspoken Sunni Arab lawmaker, called on Kurds to reconsider their decision.
"We will never relinquish the unity of Iraq," Mutlaq said.
President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said he supported replacing the flag, which he called the "flag of Saddam".
"Under this flag many crimes were committed," Talabani said on Tuesday, referring to Saddam's military campaign against the Kurds, for which the toppled leader is now on trial in Baghdad. (Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald)
Reuters
The U.S. embassy initially called a decree issued by the president of Iraq's Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani "inappropriate" and said it did not enjoy U.S. support.
But in a revised statement later on Tuesday, U.S. envoy in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad said: "Decisions on Iraq's national symbols must be made by the Iraqi people as a whole through an established constitutional process," adding that Washington was committed to "Iraq's unity and territorial integrity".
In the revised statement, the embassy did not give any explanation for deleting parts of the original statement.
After the Kurdish regional government banned the use of the Iraqi flag on public buildings as a symbol of oppression under Saddam Hussein, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite Arab, demanded the use of the red, white and black flag saying only parliament could decide on a new flag.
The dispute over Saddam-era symbols has exposed deeper faultlines between Arabs and Kurds that, along with rising communal tensions between Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs, pose a threat to the unity of post-war Iraq.
Under the constitution, parliament faces deadlines on deciding how Iraq's 18 provinces can join with others to form autonomous federal regions, an explosive issue in the new Iraq.
Members of the Sunni minority, who dominated Iraq under Saddam and made up the core of Saddam's pan-Arab Baath party, fear federalism will lead to Iraq's partition, with Kurds in the north and Shi'ites in the south carving their own regions, cutting them off from Iraq's vast oil resources.
Underscoring tensions among Iraq's warring communities, Saleh al-Mutlaq, an outspoken Sunni Arab lawmaker, called on Kurds to reconsider their decision.
"We will never relinquish the unity of Iraq," Mutlaq said.
President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said he supported replacing the flag, which he called the "flag of Saddam".
"Under this flag many crimes were committed," Talabani said on Tuesday, referring to Saddam's military campaign against the Kurds, for which the toppled leader is now on trial in Baghdad. (Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald)
Reuters
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