Al-Maliki’s advisor demands Barzani ‘correct his mistakes’ towards Iraqi government

The Kurdish leadership has started to “pay the price for the negative positions it took against Baghdad”, Amer Al-Khozai, adviser of the outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, said yesterday.

He called on Massoud Barzani, the head of the northern Iraqi region, to correct his mistakes against the federal government so as to face the terrorism threat that has started to threaten the region.

In a statement to the Anadolu news agency, Al-Khozai explained that Al-Maliki “has managed to hide his anger” regarding the wrong actions taken by the Kurdish leaders over the past few months, including through oil smuggling and controlling the weapons of the Iraqi army and its areas while fighting the terrorist groups of ISIS.”

He pointed out that the Kurdish leadership “is starting to pay the price for the negative positions it took toward the federal government, through the attacks of the terrorist gangs that are attacking the Peshmerga forces [the army of the north of Iraq] and through seizing the sites that are subject to the control of those forces.”

Al-Maliki has left the disputes with the leadership of the territory of northern Iraq aside, and insisted on adopting a national position that unites Iraq, as the “nation, man and holy sites in the country are all threatened”, Al-Khozai explained.

It was not possible to get an immediate comment from the presidency of the northern Iraqi region.

Security coordination between Baghdad and Erbil recently stopped after Peshmerga troops took control of disputed areas in the provinces of Diyala, Kirkuk, Salahuddin and Nineveh on the backdrop of the withdrawal of the Iraqi army from them.

In a surprise decision, Iraqi Prime Minister and General Commander of the Armed Forces, Al-Maliki issued orders on Monday to provide air support for the Peshmerga troops to fight militants from the Islamic State (ISIS), according to the statements of the spokesman for the Office of the General Commander Qasim Atta.

During the past two days, fighters of Islamic state along with other affiliated Sunni fighters have taken control of the area of Zamar in Nineveh, after battles with the Peshmerga forces.

The armed fighters have also succeeded to impose their control on the regions of Sinjar and Rabia in the same province after the withdrawal of the Peshmerga forces from them, as a result of clashes with the armed groups.