By Majid Nizamaddin Guli
NEW YORK – The United Nations has expressed concern that a $612 billion defense bill now before the US Congress will further militarizing the situation in Iraq by arming "non-state" groups, namely the Sunni Arabs and Kurds.
The draft bill, which was approved 60-2 in the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, calls for at least 25 percent of the total US aid to Iraqi forces be allocated to the Kurdish Peshmerga, Sunni tribal militias and a force to be formed called the Iraqi Sunni National Guard. The bill is expected to be voted on in the House of Representatives the week of May 12.
Farhad Haq, a deputy UN spokesman, responded to a question from a Rudaw reporter on Friday, by saying the UN is worried about destabilizing Iraq by the US provision of arms to "non-state sides."
According to Haq, protecting human rights is the most significant UN goal in Iraq. He also called for Iraqi “national unity” in fighting the Islamic State, or ISIS, and urged all players to stop “sectarianism.”
The proposed legislation, drafted by Republican congressmen, calls on Washington to designate Iraqi Kurds as a “reliable and stable partner of the United States.”
Washington has previously refused to directly arm Kurdish forces, instead sending weapons through the central government in Baghdad. The arrangement has resulted in complaints by Kurdish officials of delays and non-delivery.
NEW YORK – The United Nations has expressed concern that a $612 billion defense bill now before the US Congress will further militarizing the situation in Iraq by arming "non-state" groups, namely the Sunni Arabs and Kurds.
The draft bill, which was approved 60-2 in the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, calls for at least 25 percent of the total US aid to Iraqi forces be allocated to the Kurdish Peshmerga, Sunni tribal militias and a force to be formed called the Iraqi Sunni National Guard. The bill is expected to be voted on in the House of Representatives the week of May 12.
Farhad Haq, a deputy UN spokesman, responded to a question from a Rudaw reporter on Friday, by saying the UN is worried about destabilizing Iraq by the US provision of arms to "non-state sides."
According to Haq, protecting human rights is the most significant UN goal in Iraq. He also called for Iraqi “national unity” in fighting the Islamic State, or ISIS, and urged all players to stop “sectarianism.”
The proposed legislation, drafted by Republican congressmen, calls on Washington to designate Iraqi Kurds as a “reliable and stable partner of the United States.”
Washington has previously refused to directly arm Kurdish forces, instead sending weapons through the central government in Baghdad. The arrangement has resulted in complaints by Kurdish officials of delays and non-delivery.
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