FULL TRANSCRIPT: Radio Sawas Interview with Nickolay Mladenov Special Representative of the Secretary General for Iraq and the Head of UN Assistance Mission in Iraq UNAMI Zaid Benjamin: Thanks you excellency for having me. Mr. Ban Ki Moon was in Iraq lately. What concerns did he have about the situation in Iraq and was the visit helpful in addressing them? Nickolay Mladenove: The UN Secretary General visited Iraq to send a strong message of support for the Iraqi people and their struggle against terrorism. Secondly to pass a strong message to Iraqs leadership and to all community, religious and political figures that despite the difficulties that the country is going through; human rights and the humanitarian law need to be given by all in the conflict. and this is a message that most strongly must be heard by ISIL who have undertaken a campaign of ethnic cleansing, of destruction in the areas they control. and the third part of the message of the Secretary general was to support the political process in the constitutional framework the country to come through the crisis that its now going through. as you know, on the day that he was here, a new president was elected a little bit before a new speaker for parliament and its time for the process to proceed to the next step which is the formation of the government. So I can say that despite the really difficult today in Iraq, there is a glimmer of hope and that glimmer of hope comes form the fact the political leaders have stuck to the constitutional process and are following timeline in it and this is the only way way forward to bring the country together and to resolve the differences between the communities. Zaid Benjamin: Did you see the fall of Mosul coming? Nickolay Mladenove: I think Mosul was a shock. Iraq will never be the same as before Mosul. We need to realize that it is not just a process of forming of new government that it there are additional steps that needs to taken. but the community of Iraq will need to sit down together for a very serious process of reconciliation. There are so many issues that have been outstanding for the last decade. had they been resolved maybe we wouldnt be where we are today. What we refer usually to as the unfinished business of the Constitution. The Constitution hasnt been fully implemented revenue-sharing law, hydro-carbon law, federal court law, federal counsel legislation. All of these things have been addressed in the past. Perhaps the relationship between the community would have been quite different than things wouldve been much easier today. But we are where we are, and I think the soonest the parliament begins this new positions and new activities, it is starting quite rapidly already looking at the budget, already looking at the displacement of people As soon as the wheels start turning, then we can really work with the Iraqi political leaders, community leaders and religious leaders to get back to the agenda of bringing the country together. And that will very much depend on how the new speaker, the new president and the new government will act. Zaid Benjamin: Do you think Iraq can come out of the crisis? Nickolay Mladenove: Its not going to be easy, but I think that the country has that capacity to come thought this crisis. Lets be honest, the people of the country have suffered thought one of the worst dictatorships ever and since the falling of that dictatorship they have lived up through a decade of violence and sectarian tension and instability. and now there is a feeling they are in front of very strong, extremely aggressive, radical terrorist agenda that is taking control of about a third of Iraq. Iraqis are resilient people, they have proven through out this period that they want to stand up for democracy, they are not to give up the rights they have and They can get through the difficulties of building the institutions. How can that happen? It can happen through observing the constitution, sticking to the timeline and the process the constitution has and secondly through international support. Iraq should not be left to its own devices, because the trends it faces is today here in Iraq but its a regional threat, and not just for the region but beyond as well. And lastly if you look at the last elections, the Iraqi people in their wisdom did not give any single political parties a full majority in the parliament. and in a way that sends a strong message to politicians: you have to work together whatever your differences are, whatever communities you represent, whatever constituencies you represent, you have to come together and work for the national interest. And i think what we can see, there is an emerging feeling not among ordinary Iraqis but politicians as well that there is no other way. The way of violence and division its going to be damaging not just for the country but the people who live here. Zaid Benjamin: How do you see the US approach, the Iranian approach and the Russian approach to this crisis? Nickolay Mladenove: I think the international community needs to realize that ISIL is a threat not just for Iraq. Its a threat for the region and beyond. therefor the reactions and plans by international community put forward must be focused on addressing this threat. you can not address the problem of terrorism only in Iraq. Yes most of the things to be done or have to be done here both of security side and the political side. however the region, Iraq’s neighbors, all the Iraq neighbors need to understand this threat is already very serious and its not just for this country but to them all and they need to cooperate in addressing this threat. Obviously Iraq has alliances and international commitment and part of the international system of international relations. and both UN, Iraq’s allies and Iraq’s neighbors have the responsibility to help the country. One way of doing this is to send strong messages of the need for unity in Iraq today and in the struggle against terrorism and the relationship between various communities and sticking to the constitutional process. I keep come back to this every time I have discussion on Iraq because this is fundamentally the most important part of how the country can come through the crisis. And globally its really the time for the world to wake up and to realize that we are facing a threat in the face of ISIL that we have not faced for quite sometime if ever. A terrorist organization taking control of parts of two countries and undertaking a campaign to cleans these territories of people of all different religion. Its implementing the rule of terror destroying cultural and historic heritage that has been there for ages and we have to take that very seriously. Zaid Benjamin: But do you think that US, Russia and Iran and other regional powers are sending a unified message to Iraqis regarding ISIL threat? Nickolay Mladenove: I think whats extremely important is to stand somewhere else and that is in the Security Council of the UN. Security Council is united in supporting Iraq and charting the way of how to deal with this problem, the problem of radical terrorism. Obviously it has taken time for the countries in the region to understand that this threat is not just here in Iraq but its a threat to all of them. and there is much need to be done in terms of facilitating the dialogue and I can assure you that UN, UNIAMI and the UN in general working very very hard to facilitate that dialogue and to explain to countries of the region what is happening here in Iraq and whats the way forward. and we have seen some positive indications in this respect. The support that has Iraq received internationally is a key indicator in this. Zaid Benjamin: How do you see the situation in Baghdad and around the Iraqi capital? Nickolay Mladenove: Quite tense, still the advance of the ISIL and temporary allies stalled. We’ve seen the consolidation of the Iraqi security forces around the capital and in the south. The more the Iraq political process moves forward, the quicker the moral will return to the security pulses and to the people in general and that will help them fight the terrorists. Obviously this is very important factor, and secondly its quite clear that Iraqis in general from all communities and all walks of life are beginning to understand that whatever differences they have, these differences are reconcilable. The grievances that ISIL have are not reconcilable. Zaid Benjamin: Did you see the fall of Mosul coming, did you speak to officials about it? Nickolay Mladenove: Sadly Yes. If you look to the security analysis of what was happening, this was seen by many. We were discussing with Iraqi authorities and with the Kurdish regional government the need to come together to confront the advance of ISIL in the north part of the country. However, I think everybody has been taken back by the rapid advance that happened in about 48 hours since a lot of these foreign fighters came from Syria and crossed to Iraq. Zaid Benjamin: Do you think the fall of Mosul was because there was no trust between the Iraqi politicians or it was because of some sort of informational gap? Nickolay Mladenove: Its combination of many problems. And mostly its a combination of the pile of unresolved issues of the last decade or so. However whats more important today really is to reassert sovereign control of the entire territory of Iraq, and this can only happen if the government of Baghdad and regional government in Erbil cooperate as they cooperated on the bases of the security plan that is acceptable by everybody in Iraq, to all communities. If they base this plan of the rigid understanding that human rights need to be observed and humanitarian international law needs to be implemented. And last but not least, I keep coming back to this point, moving the political process forward so if you have a security plan that is acceptable to everybody and a political process that is moving forward in line with constitution yes the country can come back together. Zaid Benjamin: Can Iraqis have a government by the mid of the next month? Nickolay Mladenove: Since the elections of the president, the political blocs of the parliament have to decide in two weeks which is the largest political bloc and that political bloc needs to nominate somebody to be their candidate for the prime minister. That person needs to attempt to build the majority or broader agreement in parliament for a government that can get a vote of confidence from the elected representatives. Now, there are different ways of how this can be done. Obviously one way is to have a government of technocrats. A different way is having a majority that is build on the bases of the different community in the country and I think this is the key to unlocking the future and then the next government of Iraq needs to be representative of all different communities in the country and it needs to enjoy wider domestic support if its true lead the country through this difficult time. Zaid Benjamin: Sunnis and others are blaming Maliki for the current situation, Nickolay Mladenove: I don’t want to personalize this. there have been many personal accusations that have really ratchet up the political language in that country. I think whats important is to make sure that people focus on more conciliatory statements, they must look at whats possible for the country to move forward rather than highlighting the differences or focussing on the accusations among themselves. There is a plenty of time for that in the future but really what is needed is a leadership that can bring the country together. Again I must say this is not the position of the United Nations. This what we heard very clearly when the Secretary General went to Najaf to talk to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, he has consistently called for more consensus and compromise in the Iraqi politics. Zaid Benjamin: Do you have any message to Iraqis? Nickolay Mladenove: I have many messages. But there is one that we must focus on is to not underestimate the problem the ISIL is. ISIL is a cancer that eats through this country and will eat through this region and beyond and it needs to be treated and it only can be treated if the people are united because it effects all communities. No community in the country, in the Middle East or beyond the Middle East can feel insulated from the problems of radical terrorism and Iraq is right now facing a battle of survival and it needs an international support for that. Zaid Benjamin: Thanks for your time again.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 06:44:58 +0000
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