Kamal Kais, Nineveh Governorate Council Member
MOSUL - A Yezidi member of the Nineveh Governorate Council came out in support for the establishment of a new province for the Assyrian, Yezidi and Shabak minorities.
Kamal Kais, who is a Kurdistan Democratic Party member and part of the ''Brotherhood'' block in the Nineveh Governorate Council which currently holds 13 of the 37 seats was quoted on Saturday in regards to a new province in the Nineveh Plains as
"a step
towards the interest in the region and it would provide services to citizens
because it a special budget would be allocated and the money would be used according to
the needs of the minority citizens who suffer a lot of problems as a result of
negligence."
Kamal said a new province for religious minorities in Iraq is vital due to main Arab political parties leaning towards Islamism that breeds extremism and thus "religious minorities pay the price."
The Nineveh Plains comprises of 3 districts north and east of Mosul with the vast majority of population being non-Muslim and non-Arab or Kurdish, making it unique in all of Iraq.
Kamal pointed out that "the growth of religious extremism in Mosul began to
raise fear for religious minorities and students suffer from
difficulty to continue their studies in the University of Mosul and other
institutes, leading to many leaving school without any justice"
Kamal insisted on other parties supporting the project "for the sake of the
people of the region and
because it will facilitate the process of establishing projects and
promote peace and stability."
Last week, all of Assyrian political parties demanded the establishment of the 19th province and the idea was received warmly by Nouri Almaliki's Islamic Dawa party as well as Muqtada Sadr's block in the parliament.
However, it was faced with heavy objection by Sunni Arabs parliament members from Mosul.
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