SOUTH KURDISTAN (IRAQ) MESOPOTAMIA NEWS: CORRUPTION AND T HE KURDISH FLAG
Ex-Kirkuk governor Najmaldin Karim arrested in Lebanon: sources
22 May 2019 – Ekurdnet – BEIRUT,— The former Governor of Kirkuk province Najmaldin Karim was detained by Interpol International Police at Beirut International Airport upon landing in Lebanon’s capital an informed sources said. The source claimed that the move had come on the basis of legal complaints lodged by an Iraqi court against the Baghdad-ousted governor.The sources, who asked not to be identified, said on Tuesday that the arrest took place immediately after the presence of the governor of Kirkuk at Beirut airport.The office of the Iraqi Media Network in Beirut confirmed that the Interpol has arrested Karim,
According to the same sources the Iraqi ambassador in Beirut intervened to find out the circumstances of the arrest.
Iraqi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali al-Amiri said “We are following the case of the arrest of Karim by the Interpol International Police”
Meanwhile the office of Najmaldin Karim late on Tuesday rejected claims that the Karim had been arrested in Lebanon. “The news is far from the truth and Dr. Najmaldin Karim has gone on a trip outside the country on regular and diplomatic work and will return to Kurdistan next week,” a statement from Karim’s office however read, K24 TV reported.
Iraqi judiciary had issued earlier an arrest warrant against Najmaldin Karim on the background of raising the flag of Kurdistan region in the governmental departments in Kirkuk province in addition to his role in allowing the referendum on Kurdistan independence in Kirkuk and other files.
An Iraqi court has ruled in August 2017 to cancel a decision by Kirkuk Provincial Council that voted to raise the Kurdish flag alongside the Iraqi one.
But Karim has defied an Iraqi court ruling and insisted to keep the Kurdish flag used by Kurdistan Region flattering alongside the Iraqi one in the province.
The controversial raising of the Kurdish flag was strongly opposed by the Iraqi government, neighboring countries , notably Turkey and Iran as well as Turkmen and Arab parties in Kirkuk and stirred up heated debates among Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen in Iraq. The United Nations has also warned that the decision to fly the Kurdish flag over the citadel in Kirkuk could inflame tensions.
Karim is also accused of corruption. A Kurdish lawmaker said in 2018 that “up to $60 million in Kirkuk petrodollars deposited into a bank account of the former governor has gone missing.”
The Kurds are seeking to integrate Kirkuk province into the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region claiming it to be historically a Kurdish city, but Iraq’s central government opposes this. The population is a mix of Kurds, Arabs, Christians and Turkmen.
The Arabs and Turkmen do not want to see the province under permanent Kurdish control.