Tribal chiefs, notables in Makhmour want Asayesh forces out

NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: Several tribal chiefs and notables in the districts of Makhmour and al-Qaraj called on Saturday for the withdrawal of the Kurdish Asayesh forces and to speed up the election of a local council, according to a source from the Ninewa province on Saturday. “The local notables in Makhmour and al-Qaraj districts, southeastern Mosul, met on Saturday with Ninewa Governor Atheel al-Nejefi and called for having the Kurdish forces Asayesh out of their areas and putting an end to harassments they face in checkpoints set up by these forces,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “They also urged the acceleration of electing a local council and the construction of health centers and schools,” the source added. Makhmour is one of the disputed areas between the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region. Asayesh or Asayish (Arabic for security) is a Kurdish organization, created in September 1993. It is referred to as an “intelligence agency”, “security force”,”security service”, “security police”, “secret service”, “secret police”, or just “Kurdish police”. Related to Barazani, it also acts under the command of the Kurdish National Assembly (parliament) and the Kurdistan Regional Government Kurdistan RegionG). Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa province, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. AmR (S)/SR 1