Iraq: Signs of hope amongst great suffering and persecution

In his latest blog, David Alton writes from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in a piece entitled: Knowing Their Own Story - Self Governing Kurds in Iraq Have Been An Oasis Of Stability And Provided Sanctuary For Persecuted Minorities. Signs of hope amongst great suffering and persecution.

In 1991 John Major's Government intervened in Iraq, established a no fly zone, stopped a Genocide, and paved the way for Kurdish regional government . Today, at the Kurdish Regional Parliament, I met the Kurdish Speaker, Rewaz Faye Hussein and her Deputy, Mr Hawarmi.

At a time when liberal interventionism is so despised, it is worth recalling that following Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons attacks in 1988 at Halabja - killing at least 5000 people - the 1991 UN Security Council Resolution 688 enabled the no-fly zone which protected the Kurds for 12 years.

The Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal subsequently defined Halabja as a genocidal massacre. It constituted the largest ever chemical attack on a civilian population.

Two million Kurds had fled to the mountains to escape Saddam Hussein's aerial bombardment. But, thanks to international intervention the Kurds survived Saddam's genocidal campaign and returned home to establish today's flourish democracy and, in Irbil, a place of safety for Yazidis, Christians and other minorities fleeing ISIS.

To read on click HERE