Demonstration in Huweija against tripartite force

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: At least 500 persons peacefully demonstrated Saturday in Huweija against the formation of a tripartite force composed of the Iraqi army, Kurdish peshmarga forces and the U.S. army to protect Kirkuk province. The demonstration included prominent and tribal figures in the district of Huweija, in addition to political parties from Kirkuk. “The demonstrators totally rejected the idea to form this three-way force,” Hussein Ali Salih, head of the Huweija local council, told Iraqi News. “They demanded that Kirkuk be protected by the only the Iraqi army,” he said. Salih pointed out that he would file recommendations to the Iraqi government, the Kirkuk Provincial Council, and the Multi-National Force (MNF) so that “they won’t drive the area onto the wrong direction”. The oil-rich Kirkuk, a city of mixed Kurdish, Turkmen and Arab population, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. MH (P)/AmR 1