UMOJA WA MATAIFA WAWAONYA SYRIA JUU YA IRAQ
Clashes between government forces and Sunni tribesmen have displaced more than 400,000 people [Reuters]
The United Nations has warned that armed groups are
increasingly forging links across the border of Syria and Iraq, fuelling
sectarian tensions in a region that has suffered from years of
bloodshed.
Speaking at the UN Security Council, the special envoy to Iraq,
Nickolay Mladenov, said the conflict in Syria was "affording terrorist
networks the occasion to forge links across the [Iraq-Syria] border and
expand their support base".
He said the combination of a divided leadership in Iraq, unresolved
constitutional issues between communities and the growing threat coming
from Syria had created a "fragile and explosive" situation.
Mladenov insisted the only way the violence could stop was through a
political process that would bridge differences, increase development
and make the government more inclusive.
"You cannot resolve the problem of violence of terrorism simply by security measures," he said.
"You need to look at the inclusion of communities and decision
making. You need to look at the economic development and the protection
of human rights, the rule of law."
A nation divided
Sunnis in Iraq have been staging protests against the Shia-led
government of Nouri al-Maliki, over what they consider second class
treatment of their community, since late last year.
The demonstrations have tapped into longstanding grievances of
Sunnis, who say they are marginalised by the Shia-led government and
unfairly targeted with heavy-handed tactics by security forces.
Clashes between the security forces and Sunni tribesmen in the Anbar
province have displaced more than 400,000 people according to the UN,
after fighters took control of the main city of Fallujah in December.
Tensions among the country's communities and the conflict in
neighbouring Syria are said to be fuelling the sectarian divide,
creating "a fragile and explosive combination," according to Mladenov.
Baghdad has blamed support for groups fighting in Syria's civil war
for inflaming tensions in Iraq, with weapons ending up in the hands of
armed groups.
Last year, Maliki warned that a victory for rebels in the Syrian
civil war would spark a sectarian war in Iraq, Lebanon and division in
Jordan.
ALJAZEERA ENGLISH