Kurdistan says 'hysterical' Iraqi PM Maliki must quit

ekurd
Kurdistan says 'hysterical' Iraqi PM Maliki must quit.  
ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',— A spokesman for Iraqi Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani said Thursday national premier Nuri al-Maliki had "become hysterical" and should step down after he accused the autonomous Kurdistanregion of harbouring militants.

Maliki "has become hysterical and has lost his balance. He is doing everything he can to justify his failures and put the blame on others for these failures,” said the statement, published on the Kurdistan regional presidency KRP website in English.

The Spokesman added that Erbil, which Maliki has accused of harboring terrorists, has always been a refuge for the oppressed including Nouri Maliki. “Kurdistan is proud for that fact the Erbil has always served as refuge for oppressed people, including yourself when you fled the former dictatorship..

Now Erbil is a refuge for people fleeing from your dictatorship. ISIS and other groups have no place in Erbil, they stay with you. It was you who gave Iraqi land and the assets of six army divisions to ISIS.” The statement demanded that the Prime Minister apologize to the Iraqi people and to step down. “You must apologize to the Iraqi peoplewww.Ekurd.net and step down. You have destroyed the country and someone who has destroyed the country cannot save the country from crises.”.

The virulent statement came after Maliki charged that Kurdistan capital city of Erbil was harbouring militants fighting his government, including from the Islamic State jihadist group which declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria last month.

"We cannot be silent over a movement that exploited the circumstances and expanded," Maliki said Wednesday, infuriated by a Kurdish announcement that plans for an independence referendum were to speed up.

Kurdish troops moved into a swathe of disputed areas after federal security forces withdrew as a jihadist-led alliance of militants swept through northern Iraq last month.

The Kurdish Peshmerge fighters were in some places the only rampart against the jihadists, but Barzani has since vowed they would never leave the disputed areas again.