Report of planned Iraq military purge (removal of Kurd military officers)

Report of planned Iraq military purge

BAGHDAD, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Iraq's Shiite-majority government reportedly recently planned a purge of Kurdish military officers with the knowledge of U.S. and British officials.

The Kurdish Web site peyamner.com reported that Iraqi Defense Minister Saadoun Dulaimi signed a decree to remove a number of high-ranking Iraqi army officers but failed to follow through. Among those to be sacked were 13 high-ranking Kurdish officers, among them the chief of staff of the Iraqi armed forces, Babakir Zebari.

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One Sunni Iraqi officer speaking on condition of anonymity said, "The Kurds are running the Ministry of Defense. The first thing they ask you when you want to become an officer is, 'Are you an Arab or a Kurd?'"

Lt. Col. Dan Kessler, commander of the U.S. Military Transitional Team Task Force 66, commented, "It is very frustrating, the sectarianism. Everyone has something for himself. The head of the staff is a Kurd, the commander of the (2nd) Division is a Kurd."