Image from the BBCKurdish Expansion Moves Threaten Stability In Northern Iraq -- Yahoo News/McClatchy Papers
BASHIQA, Iraq — Kurdish forces have detained Murad Kashtu al Asi three times in the isolated district of Sinjar in Nineveh province. First, they beat him and accused him of being a terrorist and a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party , a mostly Sunni Arab political party. The second time, they detained him for several hours, he said.
The third time, they hit him in the face with the butts of their guns. "If you leave alive this time, then work with us or we will kill you," he said his captors told him. He was held six days and released Sunday after U.S. forces intervened on his behalf, he said.
The Kurds never charged him with a crime and even called him their "brother." His offense was working with an Arab party in territory that the Kurds covet. "We don't want you to be with Arabs anymore . . . if they controlled the area (the existence of the) Yazidis will end," Asi recalled.
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My Comment: Iraq's Achilles heel .... tensions between Shiites, Sunnis, and the Kurds of the North.