ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Bafel Talabani, president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said on Saturday that he received the head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) in Sulaimani. Their meeting focused on the recent deadly clashes between security forces and armed men affiliated with Lahur Talabany in Sulaimani, an Iraqi security source told Rudaw.
“Anyone, in any rank or position, who breaks the law and endangers the life and stability of our beloved people, must have the law enforced upon them and the law must be sovereign,” Talabani was cited saying in a statement released by his office following his meeting with Hamid al-Shatri.
A senior Iraqi security source, speaking to Rudaw on the condition of anonymity, said that Shatri was dispatched to Sulaimani by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to “investigate the Lalezar incident.”
In the early hours of August 22, a large number of security forces surrounded Lalezar Hotel, which was being used as an office of the opposition People’s Front (Baray Gal) party. Lahur Talabany, the party’s leader and Bafel Talabani’s cousin, and one of his brothers were arrested after hours of intense clashes that left at least four people dead.
The firefight also caused significant material damage to houses and businesses located near the hotel.
Sulaimani security forces released alleged confessions of some members of Talabany’s security team, saying they had been plotting to assassinate Bafel Talabani. The People’s Front has said the confessions are fabricated.
In the wake of the fighting, the Iraqi government said that “law enforcement must be carried out in a manner that ensures the preservation of human dignity and the protection of rights.”
“The interests of Sulaimani province, the security and safety of its people, and the security of the [Kurdistan] Region and Iraq in general remain above all considerations,” Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for Sudani, said in a statement.
Malik Mohammed contributed to this article.
