ID :
182716
Tue, 05/17/2011 - 15:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/182716
The shortlink copeid
Kurdistan Spokesman: Decision on Extended US Military Mission Lies on Baghdad
TEHRAN (FNA)- A spokesman of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) rejected deployment of the US military troops in the Kurdistan region after 2011, and underlined that Iraq's central government in Baghdad is the only authority to decide if the US mission should be extended.
The Kurdistan Patriotic Union issued a statement on Sunday, asking the US military troops to extend their mission in Iraq.
Secretary-General of the KRG Peshmerga Ministry and official Spokesman of the KRG's Guards Forces Major General Jabbar Yawir dismissed the KPU demand, saying, "The Iraqi Kurdistan region cannot afford deployment of the US militaries without the consent and coordination of the central government in Baghdad".
"Deployment of the US troops in the Kurdistan region or any other place in Iraq is an issue which must be decided by the senior Iraqi political officials, and the Kurdistan Regional Government plays no role in this issue," he reiterated.
Meanwhile, the KRG Deputy Peshmerga Minister in controversial remarks earlier had described the cities of Kurdistan as a second home to the American militaries, saying that the US troops can deploy in the Kurdistan region after the 2011 deadline for the US pullout from Iraq.
Following the remarks by the KRG official and the KPU statement, which was issued in absence of the party's leader and Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in different cities in Iraq to voice massive protests against an extended mission of the US occupying forces in their war-ravaged country.
As tension is going high in different regions in Iraq over the Washington-Baghdad pullout deal, Representative of the Kurdistan Patriotic Union in Tehran Nazem Dabbaq told FNA on Saturday that the KRG has held no negotiations with the American officials on the establishment of US military bases in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
"Negotiations between the Kurdish and American officials were held "but establishment of a military base was not an agenda", Dabbaq told FNA.
"The meeting was held last Sunday but there were no talks about setting up a military base in Kurdistan," he reiterated, and added, "Kurdistan's situation and the regional conditions were the only topics discussed in the meeting."
Earlier, the secretary-general of the Peshmerga Ministry had denied any knowledge of talks regarding an American desire to establish permanent military bases in the Region, and stressed that Washington wishes to strengthen its relations with Erbil diplomatically and not militarily.
In reply to a question about press speculations that the United States wishes to establish military bases inside the Kurdistan Region, which were associated with the statements of the Assistant US Secretary of State, Jeffrey Feltman, during his meeting with KRG President Massoud Barzani last week, Yawir told Asharq Al-Awsat, "I believe the statements attributed to the US President about his desire to establish long-term strategic relations with Kurdistan Region which were conveyed by Feltman mean the establishment of long-term diplomatic relations."
"There is not, to my knowledge, any talk about establishing permanent American military bases in Kurdistan Region nor in Iraq," he added.
The Kurdistan Patriotic Union issued a statement on Sunday, asking the US military troops to extend their mission in Iraq.
Secretary-General of the KRG Peshmerga Ministry and official Spokesman of the KRG's Guards Forces Major General Jabbar Yawir dismissed the KPU demand, saying, "The Iraqi Kurdistan region cannot afford deployment of the US militaries without the consent and coordination of the central government in Baghdad".
"Deployment of the US troops in the Kurdistan region or any other place in Iraq is an issue which must be decided by the senior Iraqi political officials, and the Kurdistan Regional Government plays no role in this issue," he reiterated.
Meanwhile, the KRG Deputy Peshmerga Minister in controversial remarks earlier had described the cities of Kurdistan as a second home to the American militaries, saying that the US troops can deploy in the Kurdistan region after the 2011 deadline for the US pullout from Iraq.
Following the remarks by the KRG official and the KPU statement, which was issued in absence of the party's leader and Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in different cities in Iraq to voice massive protests against an extended mission of the US occupying forces in their war-ravaged country.
As tension is going high in different regions in Iraq over the Washington-Baghdad pullout deal, Representative of the Kurdistan Patriotic Union in Tehran Nazem Dabbaq told FNA on Saturday that the KRG has held no negotiations with the American officials on the establishment of US military bases in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
"Negotiations between the Kurdish and American officials were held "but establishment of a military base was not an agenda", Dabbaq told FNA.
"The meeting was held last Sunday but there were no talks about setting up a military base in Kurdistan," he reiterated, and added, "Kurdistan's situation and the regional conditions were the only topics discussed in the meeting."
Earlier, the secretary-general of the Peshmerga Ministry had denied any knowledge of talks regarding an American desire to establish permanent military bases in the Region, and stressed that Washington wishes to strengthen its relations with Erbil diplomatically and not militarily.
In reply to a question about press speculations that the United States wishes to establish military bases inside the Kurdistan Region, which were associated with the statements of the Assistant US Secretary of State, Jeffrey Feltman, during his meeting with KRG President Massoud Barzani last week, Yawir told Asharq Al-Awsat, "I believe the statements attributed to the US President about his desire to establish long-term strategic relations with Kurdistan Region which were conveyed by Feltman mean the establishment of long-term diplomatic relations."
"There is not, to my knowledge, any talk about establishing permanent American military bases in Kurdistan Region nor in Iraq," he added.
