KDP distance itself from top Kurdish Iraqi commander

08.07.2014 – Hawar Abdulrazaq – BasNews, Erbil – The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has announced that they have no relations with top Kurdish commander in Iraqi Army Fadhil Barwari, for his support of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The commander of the Anti-Terrorism Division of the Iraqi Army, Major-General Fadhil Barwari was dismissed by the KDP because of his strong support of Maliki’s government.

“Fadhil Barwari has no relations with the KDP, he’s only an officer in Maliki’s Army,” a KDP spokesperson was quoted as saying on the official KDP website. “Barwari’s comments and statements should be counted as being on behalf of Barwari or on behalf of Maliki’s Army and have nothing to do with Kurdistan or KDP’s views,” read the statement. According to the website, the media reports claiming that Barwari had been named as KDP commander in the Iraqi Army are false. Barwari joined the Iraqi Army in 2004 and is now Commander of the Iraq Special Operation Forces (ISOF), trained by American advisers and equipped with American weaponry.