Iraq Press Roundup

The Kurdish Al Itihad newspaper carried an editorial by Professor Kadhum Habeeb titled "The U.S., Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan closing decision on border.”

The editorial said that for a while now Iraqi Kurdistan has faced transgression from various sides that could create problems for the Kurdish and Iraq governments, but these could be solved by "peaceful and democratic negotiations."

The first transgression, the paper said, was the U.S. forces "don't take into consideration" the sovereignty and independence of the Iraqi and Kurdish judicial or security systems.

In an example, the editorial said despite handing security over to the Kurds, “A few months ago, they (the United States) arrested five Iranian citizens in Iraqi Kurdistan, accusing them of being spies and weapons smugglers.

“The five Iranian are still in their custody,” the paper said.

Another Iranian was recently arrested and accused by U.S. forces of being a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The paper said these two incidents took place without Kurdish or Iraqi governments being informed, and without taking into consideration the "disrespect to the central and Kurdish authorities."

"This deed is against Iraqi and Kurdish legislations and laws that are legitimate with a constitution, laws, courts and police,” the editorial said.

It was no surprise when the Iranian government decided to take revenge and closed the commercial borders with Iraqi Kurdistan, the editorial said.

At the end of the editorial, the writer said: "U.S. forces must stop their random arrests of people without checking with the government. They must release the Iranians who were arrested, who came to Iraq following an official invitation from the Kurdish government."

The Kitabat newspaper, in an editorial, focused on the preparation for the international conference for peace in the Middle East.

The conference will discuss the Palestinian issue and ways to find solutions to restart negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and what the newspaper called the "Zionist government."

The paper said any efforts to find a solution to the Palestinian issue are welcome and can't be objected to, but "why didn’t the U.S. administration move before now?"

This question led the writer to wonder: "What is the goal behind such a conference?"

"We are used to the fact the U.S. administration doesn't make such an attempt without planning for further goals to accomplish, goals that only God and the devils at the White House acknowledge," the paper said.

It also said most people across the world realize the United States wouldn’t have come to Iraq or the Middle East if it weren’t "for the control of energy sources, and securing the region for Israel."

The editorial said the United States wouldn't have been able to dominate without "creating sectarian, ethnic, even economic and military strife, as the sectarian strife now is lit between the Sunnis and Shiite.”

"In Iraq, in spite of all of the suffering we faced under the (old) regime, we didn't, socially, have any problem. Yes we had disagreement, yet they never turned to killings of each other," the paper said.

The paper criticized the term "The New Middle East" by saying it could mean "The Mighty Israeli State" or be a "reflection of Sykes Picot Convention.”