Kurdistan's Parliament Ends Recess To Discuss Border
Shelling
Arbil, Aug 28, (VOI)- The Parliament of Iraq's Kurdistan region held on Tuesday
an extraordinary session to discuss the Iranian and Turkish shelling of the
regions' borders.
The session started with chairmanship of the Parliaments' Speaker Adnan
al-Mufti, by standing one minute to mourn victims of Shingar bombings, where 800
were killed and injured.
The session focused on discussing the recent Iranian and Turkish shelling, which
forced hundreds of residents to move away, in addition to causing material
damage inside the border villages.
The session was attended by Sulaimani Governor Dana Ahmed
Majid and Kurdish Interior Minister Othman Haji Mahmoud and Minister of Internal
Affairs Karim Sinjari.
Iran has been shelling border areas in Qalaat Diza, 135 km northwest of
Sulaimani, Haj Omran, 147 km northeast of Arbil, and Bachwin district for three
weeks now under the pretext of tracking down PJAK fighters, Iranian Kurds who
oppose the Iranian government.
Turkey, on the other hand, was shelling border areas in the Kurdistan province
of Duhok also under the pretext of fighting members of imprisoned leader
Abdullah Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The 111-seat Iraqi Kurdistan parliament is composed of two main blocs: the green
bloc of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a party that is led by Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani, and the yellow bloc of Iraqi Kurdistan President
Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), in addition to other blocs
representing Kurdish parties.
The parliamentary recess starts on Aug 1, 2007, to continue until September 1,
2007.
