September 4, 2006
AFP
The president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish
region has launched a scathing attack on
Iraqi Arab leaders Sunday over their
opposition to his order banning the national
flag from public buildings.
"Those who condemn it are chauvinists,
escaping from internal problems," Massud
Barzani told members of the Kurdish regional
parliament in the northen city of Arbil.
"They are losers. They are not rulers or
statesmen. They can't run their region and
they want to make Kurdistan just like their
regions. The time of threats is over, no one
has the right force his will on the Kurdish
people."
Barzani was talking shortly after Iraqi
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite
Arab, had ordered that: "The present Iraqi
flag should be hoisted on every inch of
Iraqi soil until parliament takes a decision
about it."
This was in response to Barzani's ban on the
flag's use in the Kurdish region, where many
see the red, white and black national banner
as a symbol of Arab nationalism and of
ousted president Saddam Hussein's hated
Sunni Arab-dominated regime.
"The decision to raise only the Kurdish flag
instead of the present Iraqi flag in
Kurdistan came after consultation with both
President (Jalal) Talabani (a fellow Kurd)
and the Iraqi prime minister. I did not take
the decision myself," Barzani insisted.
"I ask for a new flag for Iraq to be raised,
according to Item 12 of the Iraqi
constitution -- a new flag and a new
national anthem which represents all the
components of Iraq," he told the Kurdish
assembly.
Iraq's new constitution will allow regional
governments to strengthen their autonomy,
but many Arabs fear a break-up of their
country and the row over the flag is seen as
proxy for the struggle for an independent
Kurdistan.
Referring to atrocities committed under the
previous regime, Barzani said "the present
flag is not the flag of Iraq, but of the
Baath party and chemical strikes, drainage
of the marshes, putting down uprisings and
mass graves."
On May 7, the rival administrations run by
the two Kurdish former rebel groups in the
cities of Arbil and Sulaimaniyah were united
into a single autonomous regional government
for Iraq's three northern provinces.
Before the merger, some official buildings
in Sulaimaniyah province -- which was ruled
by Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)
-- would hoist the Iraqi flag along with the
PUK party flag.
Barzani's administration in Arbil and Dohuk
provinces has never flown the Iraqi flag.
Since Saddam's ouster in 2003, Kurdish
politicians have taken part in national
politics and put their historic demands for
independence on hold but, as violence rages
around the country, separatist tensions
remain high.
In April 2004 the then interim government of
Iraq attempted to resolve the controversy
over the flag, which is emblazoned with
three green stars and the legend "God is
greatest", by proposing a new national
banner.
A new blue and white design, however, caused
much controversy.
Some felt the colours were too close to
those of the Israeli flag while its crescent
motif reminded Kurds of their hated Turkish
neighbour. It was swiftly abandoned.
Parliament is expected to discuss a
potential new design.
The 1963 version is painted on Iraqi army
vehicles and flies above government
buildings in Baghdad.
Most Arab Iraqis accept this design as their
national flag, although the design of the
Islamic slogan -- which was reportedly based
on Saddam's own handwriting -- has been
changed to a generic typeface.
"Saddam wrote the words 'God is greatest'.
The words are right but they were badly
used," said Barzani on Sunday.
"The calligraphy used now differs in each
region, but some chauvinist Arab regions
still keep the handwriting of Saddam as a
souvenir. There is no agreement on the kind
of calligraphy to use," he said.
"Even the flag that used to be raised in
Sulaimaniyah did not have the words 'God is
greatest' on it."
Kurdistan's banner is three red, white and
green horizontal bars emblazoned with a
golden sun motif. It flies across the
Kurdish region over government buildings and
military bases.
Some Kurdish official bodies fly Iraq's
1958-1963 flag, which was that of Abdul
Karim Qasim's republic after he overthrew
the monarchy, rather than the later Iraqi
symbol with its Baathist and pan-Arab
associations.
