Group accuses Iraqi government of expelling Sunnis from Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A group of Sunni scholars has accused the Iraqi government and Shiite militias of driving out Sunnis from Baghdad neighborhoods.

The “deliberate policies of the Iraqi government in changing the demographics of Baghdad is a crime,” the scholars said on Thursday.

Their statement mentioned several prominent Baghdad neighborhoods where they claimed the Sunni population has been forcefully driven out by government forces and Shiite militias.

Abdulsahib Atraqchi, an Iraqi Sunni analyst, said that the process of sectarian cleansing in Baghdad started with the bombing of the statue of Abu Jaafar al-Mansur eleven years ago.

Al-Mansur was the founder of Baghdad in the 8th century and his iconic statue in Baghdad’s Mansur neighborhood was blown up after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.

Sunnis blamed Shiite militiamen for the destruction of the site.

Khaldun Abdulaziz Kharkhi, an Iraqi political analyst, said that Iraq’s Shiite leaders are changing the demographics and architecture of the city “in a way that suits their own political ideology.”

Muhammad Naji, an Iraqi Shiite MP, rejected the accusations, calling them baseless. “They are only meant to create sedition among the peoples of Iraq,” he said.

“I am myself in charge of a security belt around Baghdad and we still have a great relationship with the Sunni tribes,” Naji told Rudaw. “As the volunteer fighters we are also protecting them from the threat of the Islamic State (ISIS).

Naji dismissed claims that the Shiite militia had expelled Sunni families from their homes and neighborhoods.