Kurds arming themselves without Baghdad authorization

The Kurdistan Regional Government has been stealthily arming their militia. Recently three planeloads of small arms and ammunition from Bulgaria were delivered to Kurdish officials. The Washington Post reports:

The weapons arrived in the northern city of Sulaymaniyah in September on three C-130 cargo planes, according to the three officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

Experts on Iraq’s constitution said the document does not clearly say whether provincial officials have the authority to import weapons. However, Iraqi and U.S. officials said the Ministries of Interior and Defense are the only entities authorized to import weapons. The Defense Ministry provides weapons to the Iraqi army, and the Interior Ministry procures arms for the country’s police forces.

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Steve Nov 24th 2008 military, news Tags: , , , 4 Comments

4 Responses to “Kurds arming themselves without Baghdad authorization”

  1. mike w.on 25 Nov 2008 at 10:52 am link comment

    Well that’s definitely a good idea given their history.

  2. tarkanon 15 Dec 2008 at 4:54 am link comment

    What a nice foreign policy;lose your alliences in the region and start arming warlords,never think 2 steps ahead.

  3. Nafeh Shekhoon 30 Jan 2009 at 9:42 pm link comment

    well Kurds have right to get ready for any potentially dangers.because the history has proved that at the end the weapon and mountain are the best things to protect themselves from genocide and mass graves of central government and agressive neighbours.

  4. tarkanon 16 Feb 2009 at 9:15 am link comment

    Sayeret will give training covering tracks with purpose built Swiss company in name of airport security training,your todays’ supporters will leave trying their best to keep pjak up and running but your neighbors will be there watching your every move,right or wrong.

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