NEWS: Northern Iraq Tensions 'At Breaking Point', page 1

posted on Aug, 3 2004 @ 09:45 AM

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Ethnic tensions in northern Iraq created by decades of forced displacement have reached a breaking point according the US based Human Rights Watch. Unresolved property disputes have heightened since displaced Iraqis have started to return to find claims on their former lands and homes under contention.

news.bbc.co.uk
Hundreds of thousands of Kurds and other ethnic groups have been forced out of their homes in northern Iraq.

The policy, practised by successive Iraqi governments over several decades, is known as Arabisation.

Since the fall of President Saddam Hussein they have started to return.

But the Human Rights Watch report, Claims in Conflict: Reversing Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Iraq, says ethnic tensions are now close to breaking point and urgent action is needed.

Hania Mufti, co-author of the Human Rights Watch report, says attitudes over property disputes have been hardening.

"When Human Rights Watch first entered the Arabised districts of Kirkuk city, for example, we talked to a number of Arab families who were, at that time, prepared and willing to consider moving out of homes that they knew were originally Kurdish homes," she said.

"During the past year, ethnic tensions have risen to the extent that neither side is prepared to compromise now."

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

The report says that the tensions may turn to violence, obviously one of the last things the Iraq 'government' needs rights now. These people obviously need help; wither from the government or outside.

[edit on 8-3-2004 by Valhall]

crmanager

posted on Aug, 3 2004 @ 10:04 AM

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No matter what anyone says this is a normal part of a country's growth.

The U.S went through it after the civil war.

Europe. Israel is trying to prevent it.

There will be bloodshed. Lets just try to keep it to a minimum.

NOW...Let the Bush bashing begin.

Mirthful Me

posted on Aug, 3 2004 @ 10:56 AM

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This is a product of the previous regimes effort to remove an "undesirable" ethnic group from a region, replacing them with a more "compliant" population. Well things are now coming home to roost, the Interim Iraqi Government and the Coalition Forces will have their hands full as this area will be ripe for terrorist exploitation.

Please note, this is NOT G.W.'s fault.

kegs

posted on Aug, 3 2004 @ 12:28 PM

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I agree this is not directly Bush�s fault, these tensions were bound to happen after the fall of Saddam. However some responsibility must lie with the lack of post war planning that failed to anticipate this (amongst many other problems) and the CPA.

From the Human Rights Watch report:

The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) failed to address the rising tensions in northern Iraq, and to implement a strategy to resolve the claims and needs of the different communities in northern Iraq. When the CPA was formally dissolved on June 28, 2004, more than a year after the fall of the government of Iraq, the mechanism to resolve competing property claims had yet to become operational. The necessary legislation was initially promulgated in January 2004, but only finalized on June 24, 2004, just days before the handover of formal governing authority to the IIG, and the humanitarian needs of displaced persons�Kurds as well as Arabs, women and children as well as men�meanwhile went largely unmet.

...Both coalition and Kurdish officials alike must be held responsible for the lack of both pre-war and immediate post-war planning. As one CPA official told Human Rights Watch, �We missed an opportunity to put something in place that would inspire confidence.�

I'm just wondering what the Turks make of this...