ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi military has accused the Kurdish Peshmerga of “withdrawing” from a draft agreement reached between the two sides on the deployment of Iraqi federal forces to the disputed areas and international borders in security talks between them since Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a Friday ceasefire. The Peshmerga ministry denied there was any agreement while calling the Iraqi demands "unrealistic" which pose a threat to the Kurdistan Region and its people.
The Iraqi statement said that the two sides had worked out a draft agreement, but the Peshmerga “completely withdrew” from it on Tuesday.
“It is clear that this is a play to buy time from their side [the Peshmerga],” a statement by Iraq’s Joint Command read on Wednesday night. It claimed the Peshmerga started to build defensive lines against the Iraqi forces while the talks continued.
It stated this will return the two forces back to square one and is “in violation to all that they had agreed to, and that what they have presented is fully rejected” by the Iraqi side, the statement explained.
The Iraqis said that they have “strong instructions” not to engage in confrontations with the Peshmerga, that they have orders to protect the disputed areas, borders and citizens. It warned that if attacked by the Peshmerga, the Kurdish forces will not find “safety” from the Iraqi forces.
“If the armed groups linked to Erbil confronted the federal forces by firing rockets, mortars and shooting against the federal forces and killing [federal] forces, we will pursue them with the power of federal law and they will not have safety,” the statement added.
The Peshmerga ministry denied that there was any agreement between the two sides, saying that Iraqi demands are “unconstitutional,” “unrealistic,” and will pose a threat to the Kurdistan Region and its people.
It said that the Iraqi statement includes baseless accusations, while adding that “the aggressive force is the Hashd al-Shaabi and the Iraqi army who are equipped with artillery and rockets trying to advance with American-made weapons.”
The military operations by the Iraqi military and the Hashd are in violation of the Iraqi constitution which prohibits the use of force to settle the domestic disagreements, according to the statement.
“We declare that the Peshmerga are firmly stationed in its defensive positions, but are not reluctant to defend the legitimate and constitutional interests of the people of Kurdistan and their lives,” the Peshmerga statement read.
It said the Iraqi threats come as the Kurdistan Region is calling for a “political solution” to the outstanding issues between the two sides.
“Where in the world is the aggressor regarded as a victim, and the defender victimizer?” the Peshmerga statement that was published in Arabic asked.
PM Abadi said at an event on Wednesday which was attending by some Iraqi writers and journalists that they want their forces to be deployed everywhere in Iraq.
“Our demand is to deploy federal forces to every area, and that [control over] the border is the exclusive right of the federal authority and every federal authority has [the right] to be practiced within the Region,” PM Abadi said, according to his media office.
He said they do not want to enter confrontations with Erbil “not because we are afraid, but to protect the lives of our citizens, and that we want to coexist.”
The Peshmerga said that the Iraqi army put forward requests that are "unconstitutional and unrealistic demands that pose a threat to the Kurdistan Region and its citizens.”
Baghdad insists on its demand that the Kurdistan Region will cancel the outcome of the Kurdish vote before any talks take place, PM Abadi said.
“The [Kurdistan] Region has asked for negotiation, and our conditions are that it should be in light of the constitution, a united Iraq and to cancel the referendum,” the Iraqi premier said.
Erbil has offered to halt military operations, and freeze the results of the Kurdish vote in return for open dialogue with Baghdad on the basis of the Iraqi constitution, something welcomed by the United States, an ally of both Erbil and Baghdad in the war on ISIS.
PM Abadi added that Baghdad has “refused to put a blockade against our citizens in the Region.”
Hemin Hawrami, a senior assistant to former Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, called the Iraqi statement "inflammatory," while saying that a decision by the Iraqi parliament on Tuesday meant that they refuse to allow for joint administration of the disputed areas. He added that the parliament's decision amounts to "drumming up war with Kurdistan."
Jamal Imniki, the chief of staff of the Kurdish Peshmerga, had told Rudaw on Tuesday that they will not allow Iraqi forces to make any further advances into Kurdish-controlled areas.
The Kurdish Peshmerga insist that the Iraqi government respect a US-brokered agreement that stipulates the Peshmerga keep all areas it controlled before the Mosul offensive in October 2016. Iraq, emboldened by the takeover of Kirkuk and elsewhere in the disputed areas since October 16, is demanding to roll back Peshmerga to the so-called Green Line that was in place between the two before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Abadi ordered a military halt on Friday to allow for a deployment of federal forces into the disputed areas. The Iraqi and Kurdish military leaders then sent delegations to negotiate.
Also last week, Iraqi forces pushed Peshmerga out of the district of Zummar, which gave them a path to the Fishkhabur crossing.
The Kurdistan Regional Government called for dialogue, while adding that the actions by Baghdad have "destabilized some of the country's safest areas, displaced over 150,000 individuals and created dangerous security vacuums."
Last updated at 11:59 p.m.
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