Ex-Iraq governor calls for Turkish role in freeing Mosul

By Muhammet Kursun and Hemn Baban

ERBIL, Iraq (AA) – Atheel al-Nujaifi, former governor of Iraq’s northern Nineveh province and a leader of the Sunni Hashd al-Watani militia, has called for a Turkish role in freeing the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group, citing the recent liberation of the Syrian city of Jarabulus as a model.

Speaking exclusively to Anadolu Agency, al-Nujaifi said that Iraq’s Sunni Muslims had welcomed Turkey’s recent "Operation Euphrates Shield", which saw Jarabulus recaptured from the terrorist group.

The operation, which commenced on Aug. 24, allowed the Free Syrian Army -- with Turkish military support -- to clear Daesh militants from a 98-kilometer (60-mile) strip of Syrian territory along Turkey’s border.

In less than two weeks, the FSA -- backed by Turkish tanks, air power and artillery -- pushed Daesh from Jarabulus to the cities of Cobanbey and Azaz and established a roughly 4-kilometer security zone inside Syrian territory.

"The people of Mosul want to see the same thing in their city," said al-Nujaifi, noting that Mosul’s people "trusted" Turkey.

"If there is no Turkish military role [in the liberation of Mosul], Turkey should at least play an active political role in resolving the region’s current dilemmas," al-Nujaifi asserted.

Drawn up of Sunni fighters, the Hashd al-Watani was recently established to participate in an anticipated military operation to liberate Mosul, Nineveh’s provincial capital.

Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul was captured by Daesh in mid-2014.

The Hashd al-Watani was created to counterbalance the Hashd al-Shaabi, an umbrella group of Iraqi Shia militias.

Members of the Hashd al-Shaabi have been accused in the past of committing rights abuses against Sunni Muslims in areas the group has captured from Daesh.

"Turkey continues to support the Hashd al-Watani," al-Nujaifi said. "Military training [by Turkey] is ongoing."

"We believe Turkey should play a larger role in the region to offset Iran’s burgeoning role and activities," he added.

- 'Federal system'

Al-Nujaifi asserted that post-Daesh Mosul "will not be administered by non-Sunni forces", going on to suggest that a "federal system" should be applied in the region with a view to "maintaining stability".

According to the former governor, the Mosul region -- home to Sunni-Arab, Kurdish, Christian and Ezidi communities -- should be made into a "federal region" consisting of several provinces, including the nearby city of Tal Afar and the town of Sinjar.

Iraqi security forces and allied militias are currently preparing for a major offensive aimed at retaking Mosul from Daesh, which has suffered a string of recent military defeats across the country.

The security situation in war-torn Iraq has deteriorated steadily since mid-2014, when Daesh captured vast swathes of territory in the country’s western and northern regions, including Mosul.

Regarding the planned operation to retake Mosul, al-Nujaifi said the Hashd al-Watani was preparing to take part in the campaign alongside the Iraqi army or Kurdish peshmerga forces.

He added, however, that the operation was contingent upon an agreement being reached between Baghdad and Erbil (the administrative capital of northern Iraq’s semi-independent Kurdish region), going on to stress that a deal had not yet been reached due to differences over the Shia Hashd al-Shaabi’s role in the campaign.

According to al-Nujaifi, the Hashd al-Shaabi’s participation in the planned operation is opposed by Washington.

"Kurdish forces will not enter the city center without the support and participation of the people of Mosul," he said.

"The Kurds want fighters drawn from Mosul itself to be at the vanguard of the campaign," he added.

"They don’t want the Hashd al-Shaabi to enter the city," he stressed, "which they believe would only complicate the situation."