Rights group: US pullout could worsen tensions in north Iraq

Nov 10, 2009, 15:06 GMT

Cairo - Tensions between Kurds and Arabs in northern Iraq are having a devastating impact on small minority groups, and could turn into a full-scale conflict as the US withdrawal accelerates, a rights group said Tuesday.

A full-blown conflict of this nature could lead to a further destabilization of the country, the New York-based pressure group Human Rights Watch said in a 51-page report.

'With a full US withdrawal from Iraq accelerating under the Obama administration, tensions long ignored by the United States threaten to blow up into full-scale conflict, destabilizing Iraq once more,' the report concluded.

Bearing the brunt of the tensions are the minorities, including Christians and other small, ancient sects who have lived in the area for thousands of years.

Some 300 Yazadis were killed and more than 700 wounded by Islamists in 2007, Human Rights Watch said. A 2008 killing campaign saw about 40 Chaldo-Assyrian Christians killed and 12,000 forced to leave their homes, the report found.

Among the methods used by the Kurdish authorities, who have moved into the province in the years since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003, include cash distributions, meddling in the internal affairs of the tight-knit communities and torturing and beating dissidents, Human Rights Watch said.

The end goal of these measures are allegedly to keep the minorities on the side of the ruling Kurdish parties.

This in turn has sparked concern among Arabs and left an opening for Sunni extremists who have also attacked vulnerable groups like the Shabaks, the report said.

'Iraqi authorities, both Arab and Kurdish, need to rein in security forces, extremists and vigilante groups to send a message that minorities cannot be attacked with impunity,' said Joe Stork, Human Rights Watch's deputy Middle East director.

Kurdish and Arab officials have blamed each other for the attacks.

A UN-led mediation effort earlier this year to solve the conflict between the two main groups failed, though officials said efforts would continue.