http://www.arabtimesonline.com/clien...d=34390&ccid=9Kuwait will act to lift Chapter 7; Iraqis skeptical on US pullback
KUWAIT CITY, July 5: Kuwait will work towards Iraq’s exclusion from Chapter Seven of the United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions, provided both parties resolve pending issues in accordance with international agreements to further cement ties between the two brotherly nations, says Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi. Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter gives the UN Security Council power to maintain peace. It allows the Council to “determine the existence of any threat to peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression” and to take military and nonmilitary action to “restore international peace and security”. It also gives the Military Staff Committee responsibility for strategic coordination of forces placed at the disposal of the Council. It is made up of chiefs of staff of five permanent members of the Council.
Acting under Chapter 7, the council adopted resolution 1859 which decided to “review” all resolutions pertaining specifically to Iraq, beginning with resolution 661 of Aug 6, 1990 which imposed sanctions on the former regime for invading neighboring Kuwait. Other resolutions are related to the repatriation of Kuwaiti remains, return of stolen properties, demarcation of Iraq-Kuwait border and Compensation Fund. Al-Khorafi made the statement while welcoming his Iraqi counterpart, Dr Ayad Al-Samarrai who, along with his accompanying delegation, arrived in Kuwait Sunday for a four-day official visit. He went on to say the Iraqi and Kuwaiti parliaments and governments are two faces of one coin committed to maintaining harmonious bilateral relations and avoiding escalation of tension between the two nations.
“We will work in the best interest of Kuwait and Iraq. We hope both parties will coordinate their efforts to execute the UN resolutions and maintain harmonious relations,” Al-Khorafi asserted. Al-Samarrai, on the other hand, thanked Al-Khorafi for inviting him to Kuwait. The Iraqi delegation will meet a number of Kuwaiti officials, including HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Deputy Premier for Economic Affairs and State Minister for Housing and Development Affairs Sheikh Ahmad Fahd Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and National Security Apparatus Chairman Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah to discuss pending issues between Kuwait and Iraq, as well as ways to strengthen bilateral ties.
Other Kuwaiti officials who welcomed Al-Samarrai and his accompanying delegation included Chairman of Diplomacy Honor and parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mubarak Al-Khurainej, Secretary-General of the Parliament Allam Al-Kandari, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Iraq (Rtrd) Lieutenant General Ali Al-Momen and Charge d’ Affaires at the Iraqi Embassy in Kuwait Fadel Khodair.
Meanwhile, MP Khalid Al-Tahous vehemently denied allegations that the Iraqi delegation’s visit is aimed at speeding up procedures for Iraq to get out of Chapter Seven, pointing out “we welcome the visit but getting out of Chapter Seven is unacceptable and there is no way to form a joint committee in this regard unless Iraq complies with the international resolutions that guarantee the rights of Kuwait and its people.”
Al-Tahous outrightly rejected calls for Iraq to be free from Chapter Seven as it relates to fundamental issues like the prisoners of war (POWs), compensations and demarcation of borders. He argued Iraq should pay compensation for damages caused by the invasion in 1991. He also criticized some Iraqi lawmakers who demanded compensation from Kuwait for allowing the US forces to use its territory as launch pad to oust the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Interests
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said on Sunday that Iraq’s relationship with its neighbors is based on respect, mutual interests, and constructive dialogue which does not interfere with internal affairs.
Al-Maliki made his remarks to reporters, noting that their policy toward neighboring countries is based on cooperation and a peaceful end to all the disputed issues based on mutual interests.
The Iraqi government leader said that his country along with Arab countries are partners in security, peace, and stability to the whole region which are bonded by brotherly relations and common fate.
Al-Maliki also denied that his country is making any alliances in the region, adding that such alliances are unnecessary because of the negative consequences it might bring to the region.
With regards to Iraq being a mediator between US and Iran, Al-Maliki said they welcome such call, but only if the two sides expressed their wish to such mediation.
Skeptical
Iraqis are skeptical that much will change after last week’s pullback of US combat troops from Baghdad and other cities, a sentiment not shared by their government.
The government declared the June 30 pullback National Sovereignty Day and celebrated it with a military parade and noisy street celebrations by Iraqi soldiers and police. But there was no spontaneous outpouring of joy by Iraqis since many of them did not see the move as significant, with some 130,000 US troops remaining in the country.
“The celebrations were contrived, almost like a farce,” said Salman Hassan, who runs an electrical supplies store in eastern Baghdad. “The Americans did not go anywhere far, they are on the outskirts of our cities.”
Like many others in Baghdad, Hassan says he will not remember the Americans kindly. But, ironically, he says he finds comfort in the fact that the Americans remain close.
“Our forces are not ready yet to take sole responsibility. They need two more years to be ready to defend us.”
The withdrawal from the cities, which was completed Tuesday, is part of a US-Iraqi security pact that lays the ground for a full US withdrawal by the end of 2011.
Most troops pulled back to bases outside urban areas, but the US military left an undisclosed number behind to train and advise the Iraqis. The US military has refused to reveal their number, fearful of feeding any criticism that the Americans aren’t honoring the pact or casting doubt on the ability of the Iraqis to handle security alone.
The ambivalence felt by most Iraqis over the 2003 US-led invasion appears to have been duplicated over the departure of the Americans from the cities. Many are happy to see them go, yet they are not convinced their army and police are ready to protect them as well as maintain the security gains made over the past two years.
Conflicted feelings toward the Americans has been deepened by image-transforming changes the US military introduced to the way troops interact with Iraqis. They swapped their heavy-handed tactics of the war’s early years with a culturally sensitive approach since 2007 that won over much of the population and isolated the militants.
“Not every one of us felt the same about the Americans,” said Atta Zeidan, co-owner of a Baghdad book store.
“There is no universal resentment or hatred for the Americans. Love or hatred of the Americans has in large part depended on everyone’s personal experience,” he said.
Al-Maliki appears to have none of the mixed sentiments Iraqis have about the withdrawal.
While Iraqis went about their normal daily business, al-Maliki declared the pullback a victory for the country and heaped lavish praise on Iraq’s forces but made no mention of the US role in reducing violence since 2007.
Iraq’s security forces, which number 650,000, have spent years in the shadow of their better equipped and more disciplined US mentors, learning counterinsurgency tactics, intelligence gathering techniques and combat skills.
But the Iraqis continue to struggle with logistics and professional conduct. It is not uncommon to see soldiers at checkpoints speaking on their mobile phones or dozing off while sitting aside in the shade.
They also lack reliable networks for fuel distribution, equipment repairs and salary payments. Chipping away at the public’s confidence in their abilities is the adoption by some of the younger soldiers of an “American look” — dark, wraparound sunglasses, bandanas and knee and elbow pads — accessories Iraqis see as alien to their military traditions.
Many Iraqis also see hints of sectarian bias in the Shiite-dominated security forces, particularly the national police, and a disregard for human rights. There have been numerous reports in recent weeks about the torture of detainees in jails run by Iraq’s interior ministry, which oversees the police, but the government insists that offenders risk the full weight of the law.
“They are not trusted by people,” said Haidar Mohammed, a 28-year-old government employee from eastern Baghdad. “Many are not professional soldiers, their loyalty is to their political parties.”
Killed
An Iraqi policeman was killed and 15 others, including three police, were wounded in four separate grenade attacks in the same Mosul street on Sunday, a security official told AFP. An officer died at around 11 am (0800 GMT) when his patrol car was targeted on Al-Corniche street in the restive northern city, where attacks on security forces remain common, the official said. Two police were hurt in a similar attack 90 minutes later and two further grenade incidents wounded a third officer and a total of 12 civilians.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is to visit the United States from July 21, one of his advisers told AFP on Sunday, in a trip aimed at bolstering non-military cooperation.
“He will meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York as well as President Barack Obama in Washington,” said Yassin Majid, announcing the start of the visit of several days.
US Vice-President Joe Biden, whom Obama has appointed as his administration’s pointman on Iraq, visited Baghdad at the start of July and urged Iraqi leaders to speed progress on its national reconciliation process.
Biden has repeatedly voiced concern about lingering feuds between Iraq’s Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities being a roadblock to political progress.
However, the Iraqi government refused a US offer to intervene, describing the national reconciliation process as an internal matter and warning that outside interference could cause additional problems.
Dam
Iraq has appealed to European backers of a hydroelectric project in Turkey to withdraw their support for the construction of a dam it believes will worsen an already dire shortage of water. Turkey announced last week that it would resume work on the 1.2 billion euros ($1.68 billion) dam on the Tigris river, saying German, Swiss and Austrian underwriters would end a suspension on the project, renewing condemnation from downstream Iraq.
“Building the Ilisu dam on the Tigris will impact the river and its farmers. There is a request from the Iraqi government to the countries funding this project to halt funding,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters on Saturday. In December, underwriters said they were halting work on the dam for 180 days because they said it did not meet global standards, but that period has now come to an end and Turkey plans to forge ahead. Arid Iraq is in the second year of a major drought that has exacerbated entrenched problems for its environment and moribund farm sector. Pressure has been growing from Iraq’s parliament and some camps within the Iraqi government to force Turkey to increase the amount of downstream water in the Euphrates river.
Elections
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on Sunday for long-delayed local elections to be held in the ethnically divided northern oil hub of Kirkuk, a statement from his office said. “The government is trying to organise the election of the Kirkuk provincial council before the next parliamentary vote” which is due next January 31, Maliki said. “The Kirkuk problem cannot be resolved by force,” the premier said in reply to questions emailed to his office by journalists, adding that he expected to visit the troubled province soon. Intercommunal tensions prevented the staging of provincial elections in Kirkuk last January 31, when the rest of Iraq except for the three Kurdish provinces voted for new councils. Kirkuk has a Kurdish majority but substantial Arab and Turkmen minorities. Iraqi Kurds, many of whom see Kirkuk’s oil wealth as vital to the future viability of their region, have called for the province to be part of their autonomous region.
By Abubakar A. Ibrahim
Arab Times Staff and Agencies
Lun Jul 06, 2009 12:08 pm