Politics -> Kurds surprised about Maliki's flag-order

http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/266712/?AKmobile=true

12/10/2011 16:36
Baghdad, Oct. 12 (AKnews) - Kurdish politicians were surprised about Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's order to bring down Kurdish flags from government buildings in the Khanaqin district in Diyala province.

Muayyid Tayyeb, a spokesperson for the Kurdish Bloc Coalition (KBC), said that raising both flags of Kurdistan and Iraq is not contrary to the law.

"In European countries for example, municipality have their own flags that do not conflict with the official flag of the nation," Tayyeb said. "Raising the flag of Iraq's Kurdistan Region should not cause any problem."

On Tuesday, police handed a written order from Maliki to Khanaqin administer Mohammed Mala Hasan, a Kurd, to raise only Iraqi flags on government buildings and lower all Kurdish flags.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) supported Hasan when he refused the order.

They referred to a previous agreement between Baghdad and Erbil after the U.S. invasion in 2003.

The Kurdish flag is the official flag of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. It is also considered to be the national flag of the Kurds in Iraq and the neighboring countries with Kurdish minorities.

With approximately 170,000 inhabitants, Khanaqin, 155 km northeast of the city of Baquba, is one of the disputed areas between the KRG and the federal government. It has been managed by the KRG since 2003.

Reported by Raman Vrosk

RN/CU/AKnews