Iraq President Salih hosts Anfal victim, families after Kurdistan flag fuss

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region —Iraqi President Barham Salih told Kurdish families of Anfal victims the country is “in debt” to them after some were prevented on Tuesday by Iraqi forces from visiting a mass grave that may contain their relatives' remains in Muthana province. However, an Iraqi MP continued to defend the officer’s actions, calling apologies by politicians “shameful.”

Salih, a Kurd himself who welcomed the delegation to the presidential Peace Palace, condemned the atrocities of the Iraqi former regime committed against the people of Iraq, specifically the Anfal against the Kurds.

“We are in debt to the families of the Anfal genocide and whatever we do, we cannot pay them back for their sacrifices or [ever] meet their needs,” he said in a statement released by his office on Wednesday.

Salih as head of state has limited powers, but is guardian of the Constitution.

“It is an honor for us to provide more services and incentives to the families of Anfal genocide victims, and help them to go through the obstacles that faces them in their lives,” Salih said in the statement.

Iraq will never forget these "barbaric tragedies" and the country will always work to prevent such tragedies in Iraq against any ethnicity or religion from repeating, Salih continued.

“Anfal was genocide against the Kurds and it is a wound that won’t heal in every Iraqi’s soul,” he added.

Some Kurdish families, who lost their family members during Saddam Hussein's Anfal campaign that culminated in 1988, visited the area near Samawa city on Tuesday to see the exhumations.

But arguments broke out between security officials wearing Iraqi military fatigues and the Kurdish family members who suspect their relatives are buried there, over the flag of Kurdistan.

Some Anfal victim family members and a survivor with the Flag of Kurdistan draped around their necks tried to visit the sites of the mass graves near Samawa city on Tuesday attempting to locate their relatives, but Iraqi security officials prevented them from entering the sites if they wouldn't take off the Kurdistan flag.

“This is Iraq and only Iraqi flag is allowed,” one member of Iraq’s security forces shouted, sparking the incident.

The governor of the local Muthana Province later apologized for the incident, and condemned it by calling the incident a "personal act by the officer."

“I want to apologize to the people of Kurdistan and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for today’s incident at the mass grave sites in Samawa,” Muthana Governor Ahmed Manfi told Rudaw TV on Tuesday evening.

Samawa is the capital city of Muthana province in southern Iraq, near the border with Saudi Arabia.

The Kurdistan Region presidency also released a statement on Wednesday condemning the actions of the officer and thanking the Muthana Governor for his apologies.

“The actions of the Iraqi officer in Samawa against the Kurdistan flag and the Kurdish families who lost loved ones in the Anfal campaign is a personal act and we are strongly condemning it,” the Kurdistan Region president's office stated.

“We are thankful and pleased for the responsible act of the Muthana Governor for his kind apologies to the people of the Kurdistan Region and for vowing to bring the Iraqi officer to court,” the statement added.

The main Anfal campaign took place over eight phases reaching its climax in 1988 with the Halabja chemical gas attack that instantly killed 5,000 people and injured another in the closing weeks of the Iran-Iraq war.

“We want to inform everyone that those actions define only individuals who do not respect the Iraqi constitution and the law. We believe in coexistence and peace toward every ethnicity and religious group in this country, and respecting the constitution and human rights,” read the Kurdistan Region presidency’s statement.

Still some Iraqi MPs defended the actions of the Iraqi security official and argued he should not apologize.

"The apology of Muthana Governor is shameful, and the action of the Iraqi officer is right and brave," MP Oday Awad, a member of Oil and Natural Resources committee in the Iraqi parliament, said on Facebook.

"We have never witnessed a Kurdish politician apologizing to the Iraqi people due to on-stop humiliation that is happening against the Iraqi flag in Kurdistan Region every day," claimed the Fatih Coalition politician from Basra.

The Iraqi flag regularly is displayed alongside the Kurdistan flag for official KRG events, including the swearing-in ceremony of new Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in July at the Kurdistan Region parliament.

More than 182,000 people are believed to have been killed. Anfal, the eighth sura in the Quran, which was the codename used by the Baath regime for the slaughter.

"The Kurdish delegation should have raised the Iraqi flag," Iraqi MP Awad added.

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