This blog post was published on July 31 2008. §
Kurds withdrew the announcement, Muqtada rejects any kind of agreement with the occupation
Kurds withdrew the announcement
With war songs to mobilize the Kurdish public, Kurdistan TV announced their take over on Kirkuk province. Later Kurds officials withdraw the announcement saying that it was a request from the Kirkuk province government council [or half council since the Arabs and Turkomen are absent from the voting].
According to Al-Badeeliraq, the reason behind this switch is that a “neighboring country” [Turkey] threatened to mobilize its paratroopers to invade Kirkuk in case the Kurds officially include the city to Kurdistan region.
Turkish Prime Minister Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan directly called Talabani asking about the truth of this news, Talabani answer was: it is an empty threat.
Kurdish official in Kirkuk told AKI literary that the council do not care about the Arabs and Turkoman votes.
Muqtada new announcement
Few points are interesting:
The first is that he rejected any kind of pact or agreement to be signed with the occupation even a friendship agreement.
The second, he forbids he followers to confront the government at any reason, even if the government is oppressive.