Tuesday, September 05, 2023

Iraq snapshot

Tuesday, September 5, 2023. Iraq's high court nullifies the border agreement with Kuwait, it also prevents a handover the prime minister had announced, Australian politicians prepare to visit the United States to call for Julian Assange's release, Ronald DeSantis continues to struggle on the campaign trail.


Starting in Iraq where its overzealous Supreme Court has been churning out verdicts.  Esra Tekin (ANADOLU AGENCY) reports:

Iraq's Federal Supreme Court decided Monday to invalidate a maritime border agreement with Kuwait under which the two countries shared a key waterway in the Gulf.

The decision against the Khor Abdullah agreement followed a trial related to an ongoing dispute over the deal, which was signed in 2012 and ratified in 2013 and concerned maritime borders and navigation regulations.

The court cited its inconsistency with the Iraqi Constitution, which mandates approval through legislation passed with a two-thirds majority in parliament, said a statement.

Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 833 in 1993 which determined the land border between Iraq and Kuwait.

However, the delineation of the maritime border was left to the two countries.


As we've noted before -- most often with regards to Iraq and Iran -- neighboring countries and Iraq never can agree on borders.   This one had been in place for over a decade but now is being tossed aside. 

Kirkuk and the Iraqi court were in the news over the weekend. Oil-rich Kirkuk?  Julian Bechocha (RUDAW) explains:


Kirkuk is a multiethnic city home to Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen, as well as an Assyrian minority. The city was under joint administration before 2014, when Kurds took full control after Iraqi forces withdrew in the face of a brazen offensive by the Islamic State (ISIS) group threatening the city. Kurds held Kirkuk until October 16, 2017, when Iraqi forces retook control and expelled Kurdish security forces following the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independence referendum. While other Kurdish political parties remain active in Kirkuk, the KDP refused to return, saying the city was “occupied” by Shiite militias.


  Chenar Chalak (RUDAW) sexplained: 


An order from [Iraq's prime minister] Sudani in August asked the JOC to evacuate their offices in Kirkuk and hand them over to the KDP to allow the Kurdish party to resume its political activities in the province. The buildings were used by the KDP prior to the expulsion of the Peshmerga forces from Kirkuk in October 2017 when Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) gained control of the province.

Sudani’s decision was strongly rejected by the PMF and their supporters, who set up tents and held sit-in protests near the JOC headquarters in Kirkuk, blocking the main Kirkuk-Erbil highway and vowing to continue demonstrations until the Iraqi premier revokes his decision and leaves the matter to the judiciary. The protesters claimed that the KDP’s return would be detrimental to the province’s security.

Footage emerged on social media depicting the PMF protesters disrespecting the flag of the Kurdistan Region and Kirkuk’s Peshmerga statue located near the JOC headquarters, further enraging the city’s Kurdish population who were already frustrated with the ongoing blockage of the key highway for nearly a week.


In the leadup to this handover, IANS notes, clashes began taking place, "The Arabs and Turkmens have been protesting over the past few days against the return of the KDP, including blocking streets, setting tyres on fire, and staging a sit-in outside the building to prevent the KDP from reclaiming their headquarters."  






Saturday, the clashes turned extremely violent and at least four people (Kurds) were killed with over a dozen more left injured.  Following that, Kirkuk was placed on curfew Saturday night.  The curfew was only lifted after the Supreme Court weighed in the following day.   REUTERS reports:


Iraq's federal supreme court issued an urgent temporary ruling on Sunday obliging the government to delay procedures regarding the handover of a building in Kirkuk to the KDP, the state news agency reported.

The court ruling halted an order issued by Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani in his capacity as the commander-in-chief of Iraq's armed forces to hand over the army building to the KDP on September 1, according to a copy of the ruling seen by Reuters.


Not everyone fell into silent agreement.  ALJAZEERA reports:


Masoud Barzani, a veteran Kurdish leader, accused “rioters” of blocking the highway from Kirkuk to Erbil, the Kurdish capital, with their sit-in.

He said this was “creating a tense and dangerous situation for residents”.

Barzani said it was “surprising” that security forces had not prevented “the chaos and illegal behaviour of those blocking the road”, while on Saturday, “violence was used against Kurdish youth and demonstrators”.


  KURDISTAN 24 reports:


Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani described the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court’s Sunday decision on recovering the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) former headquarters in Kirkuk as a “farce”.

“Today's ‘federal court’ decision is a farce,” Barzani wrote on X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

[. . .] 

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday ordered the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs to register the killed protestors in Kirkuk as “martyrs” and provide medical assistance to the wounded, the spokesperson announced.


THE NATIONAL quote Barzani point out, "It's surprising that in the past few days security forces in Kirkuk did not prevent the violence and illegal behaviour of some groups, but today the Kurdish protesters were faced with violence and (the) blood of Kurdish youth was spilt, and it will carry a heavy price."


Turning to the topic of Julian Assange, the journalist who exposed War Crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Julian remains persecuted by US President Joe Biden for the 'crime' of journalism as the world watches.  Now, however, some members of his country's government are not just speaking out from Australia, they are planning on traveling to the United States.





Heloise Vyas (SKY NEWS) reports:

A delegation of Australian politicians from across the board will travel to the United States in September to lobby against the extradition of Julian Assange from a London prison.

The contingent is set to visit Washington DC to meet with top US diplomats and urge the government to end its prosecution bid, following years of unsuccessful intervention attempts to free the WikiLeaks founder.

MPs spanning the political spectrum, including Barnaby Joyce from the National Party, Tony Zappia from Labor, Alex Antic from the Liberals, independent MP Monique Ryan and David Shoebridge and Peter Whish-Walson from the Greens, will be part of the lobby group.

“Australians are united in their view that this matter must come to an end now,” Assange Campaign group’s legal advisor Greg Barns said in a media release.


THE FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE quotes Gabriel Shipton (Julian's brother), "The vast majority of Australians can't understand why the U.S. continues to act in a way that keeps Julian locked up in one of the worst prisons in the UK.  Even Australians who didn't support Julian's actions believe he has suffered enough and should be set free immediately."  His brother also Tweeted:



If Julian's going to be set free (and he should be), it's going to require pressure from the Australian government.  



Patrick Bell (Australia's ABC) explains, "The parliamentary delegation will include former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, Labor MP Tony Zappia, Liberal senator Alex Antic, independent MP Monique Ryan, and Greens senators David Shoebridge and Peter Whish-Wilson."
AAP notes, "The delegation will meet with members of Congress and Senate, the US State Department and the Department of Justice. They will also meet with think tanks and organisations including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders."



Should he be deported from the U.K., Julian Assange, the Australian publisher of WikiLeaks, faces up to 175 years in a U.S. prison on charges related to his release of information that revealed U.S. war crimes and torture. His legal team has stated that they plan to appeal the extradition case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France, arguing that the British litigation process has been rife with malpractice.

However, experts say, there is little likelihood that Assange, who is currently being detained without British charges at London’s Belmarsh Prison pending extradition, will be allowed to physically attend any ECHR hearings in Strasbourg, which lies in France’s Alsace region.

“The U.K. authorities’ case against bail has always been that he is ‘a significant flight risk’ and a reminder of his seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy,” Tim Dawson of the International Federation of Journalists, a group opposing Assange’s detention, told Truthout. “I can’t see that they are going to allow anything similar to arise.”



In other news, today on NPR's MORNING EDITION, Ashley Lopez notes Ronald DeSantis' campaign for the Republican Party's presidential campaign which continues to struggle for support. Or maybe it's just the focus on smearing others.  That's LGBTQ+ people, that's African-Americans, Democrats . . . He can't even stop smearing his fellow Republicans.  Josh Christenson (NEW YORK POST) reports, "The strategist for a super PAC for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has privately boasted to donors that his group is behind recent negative press about GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, a new report says."  Ben Blanchet (HUFFINGTON POST) adds:

“Every misstatement, every 360 he’s conducting or 180 that he is going through in life, is from our scrutiny and pressure. And so, he’s not going to go through that very well, and that will get worse for him,” said Jeff Roe of the DeSantis-supporting Never Back Down super PAC in audio obtained by the news organization.

Meanwhile, Ronald looked even less like a leader than usual when he refused to stand with the president in surveying the state of Florida and its recent damage from the hurricane.




The criticism has been building over the long weekend.  Ben Blanchet notes:

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) pointed out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “absolutely outrageous” move to not meet with President Joe Biden in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia.

In a CNN appearance Friday, Kinzinger criticized the Florida governor, who had expressed logistical concerns over Biden’s trip to survey hurricane damage and remarked that the visit could be “very disruptive.”

“There’s a 1 to 2% chance it’s logistics, there’s a 98 to 99% chance it’s the optics,” Kinzinger told CNN’s John Berman.




Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been accused of "petty politics" after he snubbed President Joe Biden when he visited the state on Saturday to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Idalia.

DeSantis and Biden met when the president toured Florida after Hurricane Ian hit the state last year, and in the aftermath of the Surfside condo collapse in Miami Beach in 2021.

The pair have been speaking regularly this week about Idalia, but DeSantis avoided being photographed with Biden as he visited Florida on Saturday.

[. . .]

"In times of crisis, the American people expect our leaders to put aside their differences and find strength in unity," said Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party "By refusing to meet with President Biden, he's proving again what we've known for years—Ron will always put politics over people. I hope his fundraisers in Iowa are worth it."

Victor Shi, a Gen-Z activist and Biden supporter, said media reports should make clear that it was DeSantis who refused to meet with Biden and not the other way around.


Let's wind down with this Tweet from Paul Rudnick.




Sunday, Kat's "Kat's Korner: Hozier takes you on a trip" went up.  The following sites updated:






 
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