Debate about absence of Iraqi flag in Maliki photo on Kuwait

alan131210 · Mar 18, 2012

18/03/2012 13:17

BAGHDAD, March 18 (AKnews) - A photo published by the Iraqi foreign ministry on its website within a news story about the Prime Minister's visit to Kuwait has raised political and popular debate because of the absence of the Iraqi flag.

Maliki in KuwaitState of Law Coalition MP Ali al-Shallah said the flag was found behind Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki but it was folded and this prevented its appearance.

"The visit was successful, and some are trying to stir up trouble," he said.

"Everyone should be aware that there is a protocol that requires the presence of the guest flag behind him, and if the flag wasn't found then the Iraqi delegation would have protested."

This is not the first time that controversy has been raised about a photo of the PM. There were reactions to a previous photo during his visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran when he removed his tie while meeting the Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ali Khamenei.

MP from Iraqiya List Talal al-Zobaei said: "This action is an attempt to provoke the Iraqis and show lack of respect and such a behavior is unacceptable. Iraq today wants to solve the problems instead of complicating them.

Maliki in Kuwait"The Prime Minister must take action against this violation because this is an insult for the guests and the state."

Maliki arrived last Wednesday in Kuwait. The official visit lasted for two days, during which time he met with Kuwaiti officials to discuss several outstanding issues between the two sides.

Iraq and Kuwait agreed to settle the issue of compensation of Kuwait Airways by paying $500m. The agreement was based on two parts: the first is that Iraq pays part of the amount as cash compensation while the second stated on allocating a part of the amount to establish common airlines with Kuwait.

Political analyst Fawzi al-Obeidi said: "The Iraqi government must not accept this violation because Kuwait is trying to insult Iraq once through the port of Mubarak and again through holding the money of Iraqi Airways in Jordan, and the detention of Iraqi Airways in London, and today by hiding the Iraqi flag during the visit of the prime minister.

"The continued silence by the government on these abuses may allow Kuwait to surpass Iraq. The Iraqi government has a sincere intention to resolve all our disputes with Kuwait, but the latter does not want to end the crisis."

There are several issues lingering between Kuwait and Iraq that frequently spark tensions between the two neighbors: shared oil fields, land and water border demarcations, and the controversial Kuwaiti Mubarak Port which Iraqis believe will take business away from their ports and affect fishermen working in the Gulf.

Iraq also criticizes Kuwait for its support of the UN's Chapter 7 sanctions, which were imposed on Iraq after the Second Gulf War in 1991. Without Kuwait’s approval, it is unlikely that the UN Security Council will lift the Chapter 7 sanctions. A decision on Chapter 7 is expected to be made by the UN Security Council in June.

Kuwait demands reparations for the Iraqi invasion, disclosure of the fate of Kuwaiti MIAs and the return of the remains of Kuwaiti POWs.

AKnews reported earlier that the Iraqi government wishes to settle its issues with Kuwait through the implementation of investment projects for Kuwaiti companies in Iraq.

The Kuwaiti Embassy in Iraq reopened on February 12 and is hoped to promote commercial and investment relations between the two countries.

www.AKnews.com

waltky · Jun 15, 2014

Granny says, "Dat's right - is all Maliki's fault...

Iraq: How much is the divisive approach of Maliki responsible for the turmoil?
15 Jun 2014: Jason Burke: Nouri al-Maliki has turned himself into a strongman but this may have created fertile ground for insurgents linked to Syria to extend their military grip

In the centre of the city, a 63-year-old man divides his time between a windowless office and a heavily guarded villa, shuttling between the two in a black armoured SUV. Here, in the walled-off green zone, the noise of traffic in the battered capital beyond the security perimeter is barely audible. Nouri Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki has spent decades trying to change the power dynamics of his country. In recent years, he has achieved some long-term aims. This weekend, for the underground activist turned party official turned two-term prime minister of one of the most volatile countries in the world, his failures are more evident.

For there is fear in Baghdad, where Maliki has been based since returning from a 23-year exile in 2003 in the wake of the US invasion, as there is across much of Iraq. The sudden seizure of Mosul, the second biggest city, by several hundred militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) on Tuesday now looks like the start of a campaign, not its end. On Wednesday, the Isis extremists tookcontrol of Tikrit, a provincial capital an hour's drive north of Baghdad. By Friday, there was talk of an Isis push to the edge of the capital itself.

Never the standout candidate as leader, Nouri al-Maliki follows a narrow sectarian agenda.

As the United Nations Security Council met to discuss the sudden crisis, Maliki, as dour and impassive as ever, restricted himself to a short public statement blaming the collapse on a "conspiracy" whose participants would be severely punished. He failed to achieve a quorum in parliament needed to impose a state of emergency or the numbers to ask the US for air strikes and drone attacks against the advancing extremists. Few can remember Maliki ever smiling. This weekend, he has less reason than ever.

The question now is whether this sudden unravelling is Maliki's own fault? Or was it always inevitable? Maliki's story, like that of many Iraqis, is woven through the country's violent history. He was born in 1950 near Hilla, in the southern Shia-dominated heartlands of Iraq. The town is close to Kerbala, one of the most holy cities for the 15% of Muslims worldwide and 60% to 65% of Iraqis who follow that minority branch of the faith.

MORE
Click to expand...

See also:

Shia militia: 'Isis will not take Baghdad'
14 Jun 2014: The militiamen in the capital have drawn a clear line in the sand and say that they will stand firm

After five days of siege and foreboding, the citizens of Baghdad breathed easier on Saturday. Old-world tea houses were once again brimming. So were new militia recruitment centres, where would-be fighters signed up to defend the capital. The city's collective relief stemmed from three live television addresses, only one of them made by an Iraqi. On Friday, President Barack Obama said enough to convince most that he would soon send US jets to deal with the insurgents at the gates. Hours later the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, said an alarmed Iran, which is overwhelmingly Shia, would send whatever it took to stem the insurgent Sunni tide. The alliance of common interests was perceived as a rebuff to Isis (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), a jihadist group so hardline it was disowned by al-Qaida. Isis has been rampaging through the country, pledging to rewrite the region's borders.

But it was a religious cleric who succeeded in steeling Iraqis for a fightback. The call to arms by the highest Shia authority in the land, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, mobilised in less than one day around a division of militia men who, unlike the military, will not run from a fight with the insurgents. Help is clearly on the way. And it could not come soon enough for many. "I heard the US president speak and his words seemed reasonable," said tribal leader Sheikh Abu Wissam al-Saade at a recruitment centre in the eastern suburb of Karrada, as three new volunteers arrived wanting to fight. "I would say one thing, though, he is partly to blame for this mess. He's been refusing to send us fighter jets for the past six years, because [Kurdish leader Massoud] Barzani has warned him not to." One scrawny recruit signing on with his brother said: "I have come to fight for the sake of my country. This place has been through a lot."

Volunteers, who have joined the fight against predominantly Sunni militants, carry weapons during a parade in the streets in Baghdad's Sadr city.

Karrada wears the scars of insurgency more than most places in Baghdad, with up to five bombs a month shattering its glitzy shopfronts since US forces withdrew. Ground zero of the current threat, however, is around 60 miles to the north. Here, and in the city's vulnerable western approaches, the new volunteers are already preparing to confront Isis. Iraq's immediate future seems sure to be determined by non-state actors and powerful foreign patrons. So much for the state, which has done little more than reel in horror ever since the fall of its three largest cities to a small insurgent force in less than one week. "With the scale of this crisis, all of the military units and the militia groups have melted into each other," said al-Saade. "The fighting force against Da'ash [Isis] has become a common entity."

Those in the provinces contacted by the Observer revealed that they had already dispatched upwards of 15,000 men – most without training – to Baghdad or beyond. Dhi Qaa Yehya Mohammed Bakr said his province had already sent 2,500 fighters to Baghdad, while 25,000 have signed up around the province. Columns of minibuses, some escorted by police trucks, snaked along almost empty highways from the south all day on Saturday. Signs of Shia fervour once again blending with militancy were commonplace in Baghdad . Military trucks carrying tonnes of ammunition pulled out of bases waving flags depicting the revered Shia martyrs, Hussein and Abbas. There was no sign of the Iraqi banners that were only a week earlier a far more frequent sight.

MORE
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

Debate about absence of Iraqi flag in Maliki photo on Kuwait

alan131210 New Member

waltky Well-Known Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Debate about absence of Iraqi flag in Maliki photo on Kuwait

alan131210 New Member

waltky Well-Known Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches