Kurdistan
Abadi, Hashd demand PUK hand over sites in Kirkuk: Masum delivers message
SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi President Fuad Masum, a Kurd, has arrived in Sulaimani with a message for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the Hashd al-Shaabi.
He is due to meet with the PUK leadership and deliver a six-point message, Rudaw has learned from a reliable source.
The six points Abadi and the Shiite force are demanding of the PUK are: hand over Kirkuk airport, hand over K-1 military base, hand over all oil fields, hand over all ISIS militants held by the Peshmerga, allow the return of the Iraqi army to all places where they were stationed before ISIS, remove Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim from his position.
The PUK and its Peshmerga are the dominant Kurdish force in Kirkuk province.
The PUK are being given a deadline of 2 am Sunday morning to fulfill the six demands.
Iraqi forces and Hashd al-Shaabi are in a standoff with Peshmerga over Kirkuk. The Peshmerga sent 6,000 reinforcements to the disputed area on Thursday night to counter a buildup of Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi.
The Peshmerga have withdrawn from a few posts and fortified their positions in a line of defense they believe can be protected with minimum casualties if conflict does break out in the oil-rich province.
The Kurdish forces, largely belonging to the PUK, have been in control of Kirkuk since Iraqi forces withdrew in the face of advancing ISIS militants in 2014.
In March, the PUK’s Black Force seized control of the state-run North Oil Company in Kirkuk.
Nearby is the K-1 military base that the Peshmerga took control of after it was briefly captured by ISIS. The military base has housed foreign soldiers from the global anti-ISIS coalition, including Americans training and advising the Peshmerga.
Rudaw cannot confirm the presence of coalition personnel at the base now. The coalition media office told Rudaw on Thursday that they will not become involved in the referendum, a “political issue,” but that they are “working to make sure that forces on the ground are not in harm’s way if conflict occurs.”
Hundreds of alleged ISIS militants are currently in Kurdish custody. During the recent offensive in Hawija, the New York Times reported that ISIS militants were advised by their superiors to surrender to the Peshmerga and not the Hashd al-Shaabi, and hundreds did so.
The Iraqi parliament voted to remove Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim from his post in September, before the referendum, because of his support for the vote. Karim has refused to leave, arguing that the parliament does not have the power to remove him.
Peshmerga commanders told Rudaw in Kirkuk that the coalition has informed both the Iraqi and Kurdish forces that they will not allow either side to initiate a war.
Rudaw’s reporter in Kirkuk said that fighter jets have been flying over Kirkuk. Kurdish officials say the planes belong to the coalition.
Earlier in the day, Shiekh Jafar, a PUK commander, told reporters that Abadi on Thursday had set a 48-hour deadline for negotiation.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/131020173
Evo ga Kiki ljepo prihvatite ovih šest skromnih zahtjeva,Suleimani če vam oprostiti što vas je tukao i mir.
. Gotov je.