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Nadia Murad Urges Kurdistan Government to Work on Rebuilding Yazidi Areas

Nadia Murad during her visit to the parliament in Erbil. Reuters
Nadia Murad during her visit to the parliament in Erbil. Reuters
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Nadia Murad Urges Kurdistan Government to Work on Rebuilding Yazidi Areas

Nadia Murad during her visit to the parliament in Erbil. Reuters
Nadia Murad during her visit to the parliament in Erbil. Reuters

Yazidi activist Nadia Murad, who won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize this week, has urged the government of the Iraqi Kurdistan region to play its role in rebuilding Yazidi areas in Sinjar District and returning the refugees back home.

Murad, 25, met on Thursday with Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan Nechirvan Barzani, whose office said in a press release that the PM congratulated the activist on her prize and wished her success.

Barzani announced his full support “to the humanitarian role she plays in service of peace and the Yazidi victims,” said the statement.

Murad briefed the PM on what she went through when she along with thousands of women and girls were captured in Sinjar and forced into sexual slavery by ISIS militants in 2014, it said.

She also briefed him on her advocacy on behalf of victims of wartime sexual violence after escaping her ISIS captives and finding refuge in Germany.

During her visit to Baghdad on Wednesday, Murad called on the Iraqi government and the US-led coalition to search for Yazidi women who were kidnapped in 2014.

"I'm wearing my Nobel Peace Prize in Baghdad to say to all Iraqis 'you are the most worthy of peace, so be peaceful to Iraq and to each other, and to the Yazidis and other Iraqi minorities who illustrate Iraq's rich cultural heritage'," she said during a meeting with President Barham Salih.

On Thursday, a report released by Amnesty International said that millions of people were killed or fled when ISIS took over parts of Iraq in 2014 and their scorched-earth tactics still devastate rural communities.

Looted livestock, burned orchards, planted land mines, sabotaged water pumps and destroyed farmland have lead to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of rural households and should be viewed as a war crime, the report said.

The damage to Iraq's countryside is as far-reaching as the urban destruction, but the consequences of the conflict on Iraq's rural residents are being largely forgotten," said Richard Pearshouse, senior crisis adviser at Amnesty International.

"ISIS carried out deliberate, wanton destruction of Iraq's rural environment."

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Arab World

Iraq Makes First Official Contact with New Syrian Administration

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa shakes hands with Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) head Hamid Al-Shatri on the day of their meeting in Damascus, Syria December 26, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa shakes hands with Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) head Hamid Al-Shatri on the day of their meeting in Damascus, Syria December 26, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
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Iraq Makes First Official Contact with New Syrian Administration

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa shakes hands with Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) head Hamid Al-Shatri on the day of their meeting in Damascus, Syria December 26, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa shakes hands with Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) head Hamid Al-Shatri on the day of their meeting in Damascus, Syria December 26, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa received in Damascus on Thursday Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) Head Hamid Al-Shatri, who was on his first foreign visit since assuming his post less than a week ago.

They discussed developments in Syria and the need for security and stability along their shared 600 km border, Iraq's state news agency reported.

Iraqi observers underscored the importance of the visit given the common files shared between the two neighbors, as well as mainly Iraqi Shiite political concerns over the sudden change in Syria.

The Baghdad government had stressed after the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month the need to respect the “free will” of the Syrian people.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said his country “is not opposed to communicating with the new administration in Syria as long as it sought Syria and the region’s stability.”

A member of the Iraqi delegation visiting Damascus on Thursday said officials stressed to Syrian authorities the need to be wary of armed groups that may exploit the security vacuum to launch attacks against Iraq and other regions, reported AFP.

“Iraq is seeking assurances from Syria about border issues and security inside Syria itself,” he added, while emphasizing the need for all parties to refrain from meddling in Syria’s internal affairs.

A “senior source” in Baghdad said the Syrian administration expressed its understanding of Iraq’s concerns, reported Iraq’s state news agency (INA).

Discussions tackled ensuring security at jails that are holding ISIS detainees, it revealed. Officials also tackled cooperation that would prevent the resurgence of ISIS, as well as demands related to protecting minorities and religious shrines.

Sudani had last week called on the new authorities in Damascus to provide assurances about its political process that “would not exclude any party.”

Iraqi former PM Haidar al-Malla told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Iraqi delegation’s visit “is a step in the right direction.”

He underlined the importance of holding direct dialogue with the new Syrian leadership, adding that Shatri was the best choice for heading the delegation given his political and security roles.

“Syria is at the heart of the world and it is an important country in the region. We share borders stretching more than 600 kms, so Iraq and Syria’s security are indivisible,” he remarked.

Iraq had notably sentenced Sharaa to death - when he was known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani – on charges of “terrorism and killing Iraqis” when he was a member of ISIS. He defected soon after and formed the al-Nusra Front in Syria that would later become the HTS.

On the sentence, legal expert Ali al-Tamimi said it will continue to stand until it is annulled by the judiciary.

The sentence has no impact at the moment because Iraq is now dealing with the policy of an entire state, not just members of armed groups, he explained.