Senior PUK official allegedly poisoned

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Mala Bakhtiar, a senior official in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and father-in-law to the party’s co-leader, has been poisoned and is receiving treatment in Germany, according to official sources. The PUK this summer was rocked by an internal power struggle that split its leadership. 

“PUK’s renowned leader and member of the Higher Political Council Mala Bakhtiar has been poisoned and sent abroad for treatment and confirmation of the poisoning,” party spokesperson Amin Baba Sheikh was quoted saying in PUK Media on Friday.

A statement published on Bakhtiar's Facebook page on Saturday, attributed to a "source close to Mala Bakhtiar," said that Al-Khalidi Hospital and Medical Center in Jordan and Vivantes Hospital Group in Berlin have "conducted detailed and scientific tests... proving with evidence that Mr Mala Bakhtiar has been poisoned with mercury" and promised to publish the results within two weeks.

The statement also called for a meeting of the PUK's leadership.

The news of the alleged poisoning had been circulating on social media for several days. 

Chawder news outlet, affiliated with Bakhtiar, said on Wednesday that he was in good condition and that the poisoning was confirmed by doctors in Berlin. “He will return to Kurdistan soon,” it stated.

A source close to Bakhtiar, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed to Rudaw on Friday that he “has been poisoned,” but is receiving treatment and is in “good health. He will definitely return to Kurdistan Region within two weeks.”

Bakhtiar was not the only victim, according to the PUK spokesperson. “There are signs of poisoning of a number of people from Sulaimani Asayish,” he said, referring to internal security forces affiliated with the PUK. 

Hassan Nuri, former head of Sulaimani Asayish, is one of the people who were poisoned, according to a source close to him who told Rudaw that Nuri visited Germany on October 1 and there it was confirmed he had been poisoned. 

Allegations of poisoning were also made this summer when a rift emerged between the party’s co-chairs Lahur Talabany and Bafel Talabani.

Bafel Talabani cut Lahur Talabany out of the PUK’s halls of power in early July when he changed the head of the party’s intelligence agency and counter-terrorism units who were affiliated with Lahur Talabany and replaced them with people loyal to himself, saying the shake-up was needed to combat corruption. Lahur Talabany denied the accusations made against him.

Bafel Talabani later claimed he had been poisoned by people close to his rival.

“I found a spy inside this house. I do not mean the spy of another party or country, but that of the Zanyari [PUK’s intelligence agency]. Some say I have been poisoned. That’s true. I have been poisoned. I have proof that I have been poisoned inside my own house,” he told journalists in September.

Bakhtiar is Bafel Talabani’s father-in-law, but has stayed neutral while the party’s co-chairs fight over power. 

Asked if the alleged poisoning is related to the PUK’s internal issues, the spokesperson replied, “It is better to wait for the medical test results and legal investigations.”
 
Rudaw has learned that Bakhtiar left Kurdistan for Germany on October 20 and Hassan has returned to the Kurdistan Region in good health. 

Jamil Hawrami, head of the PUK’s Peshmerga veterans association, told Rudaw on Saturday that he spoke with Bakhtiar by phone on Friday night and “he was in good condition and will return soon.”


Additional reporting by Soran Hussein  

Updated at 2:38 pm

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