Kurdish supporters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) celebrate after the closing of ballot boxes during the parliamentary election in Kirkuk. Ako Rasheed / Reuters
Kurdish supporters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) celebrate after the closing of ballot boxes during the parliamentary election in Kirkuk. Ako Rasheed / Reuters
Kurdish supporters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) celebrate after the closing of ballot boxes during the parliamentary election in Kirkuk. Ako Rasheed / Reuters
Kurdish supporters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) celebrate after the closing of ballot boxes during the parliamentary election in Kirkuk. Ako Rasheed / Reuters

Iraq's north faces instability after polls close


Mina Aldroubi
  • English
  • Arabic

Violence erupted in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya while demonstrations took place in Kirkuk over allegations of ballot rigging as Iraq awaits election results.

Gunfire broke out on Saturday night between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the party which historically controls the city, and the Movement for Change, or Gorran.

Hoshyar Ali, Head of Department of Diplomatic Relation for Gorran told The National that the PUK and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) were responsible for the "atrocious" acts against the movement.

"This was premeditated and deliberate attack with heavy weaponry against the leadership of Gorran Movement and activists," Mr Ali said, adding that voting had been rigged in "an absurd manner".

Witnesses on the ground reported the use of heavy machine guns and AK47s by PUK forces.

“Six people have been wounded but an official account has not been announced by hospitals in Sulamaniyah,” Mr Ali said.

Earlier on Saturday, Gorran and three other Kurdish parties accused the PUK of electoral fraud.

Security was tight given the lingering threat from ISIS. One policeman was killed and five wounded by mortar in eastern Iraq, a local official said, but there were no major incidents.

__________

Read more:

Iraq elections 2018: Kirkuk minorities claim voting violations

Iraq elections 2018: First polls since ISIS defeat

Iraq vice president says elections alone will not solve the country’s problems

__________

Voter turnout was 44.52 per cent with 92 per cent of votes counted, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said on Sunday.

More than half of the nearly 24.5 million voters did not show up at the ballot box in the parliamentary election, the highest abstention rate since the first multiparty elections in 2005, although it passed off largely peacefully.

It’s significantly lower than previous elections, the results are expected to be announced on Monday.

“This election takes the Kurdish region back to 1992 where the [Kurdish] civil war erupted, Iraq as a whole will suffer from huge setbacks and the elections will become a sham," Mr Ali said.

More than 15 bloody years since the ouster of former dictator Saddam Hussien, there is deep scepticism about the country’s political system dominated by an elite seen as corrupt and sectarian.

PUK officials claimed their party won most of the province's seats in the Iraqi parliamentary elections even though no result was officially released.

In a joint statement the Gorran Movement along with other Kurdish parties rejected the "whole elections process and results" urging for a new election in the KRG and Kirkuk. They demanded a manual recount of the votes.

Just west of Sulaimaniya in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk tensions peaked when the city governor, Rakan Al Jubouri, along with the head of the Turkmen Front, Arshad Al Salehi, demanded a manual recount of the votes, citing technical glitches in the electronic voting machines.

"The security situation in the city is very concerning, there are thousands of Turkmen and Arabs demonstrating outside of the IHEC's main office fearing that their voices are not going to heard," Mr Al Salehi told The National.

“We demand the authorities protect the rights of citizens in Kirkuk,” he said.

In response, the IHEC announced on Sunday that it will send a committee to “investigate the allegations of Arabs and Turkmens in Kirkuk of voter rigging.”

Also on Sunday Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi called for the tightening of security in the north.

Mr Al Abadi ordered the security forces in Kirkuk and other provinces of the Kurdistan Region to tighten control while remaining neutral in affairs related to the election.

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Things Heard & Seen

Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton

2/5

PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA

Twenty20 International series
Thu Oct 26, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
Fri Oct 27, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Sun Oct 29, 3rd T20I, Lahore

Tickets are available at www.q-tickets.com

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Engine: 3.5-litre V6

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 290hp

Torque: 340Nm

Price: Dh155,800

On sale: now

While you're here
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Indoor cricket in a nutshell

Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side

8 There are eight players per team

There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.

5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls

Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs

B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run

Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs

Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.

French Touch

Carla Bruni

(Verve)

FIXTURES

UAE’s remaining fixtures in World Cup qualification R2
Oct 8: Malaysia (h)
Oct 13: Indonesia (a)
Nov 12: Thailand (h)
Nov 17: Vietnam (h)
 

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
'Worse than a prison sentence'

Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.

“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.

“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.

“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.

“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.

“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”

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if you go

The flights

Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.

The hotel

Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.

The tour

Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg

How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
  1. Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
  2. Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
  3. Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
  4. Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
  5. Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
  6. The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
  7. Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269

*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

NYBL PROFILE

Company name: Nybl 

Date started: November 2018

Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence

Initial investment: $500,000

Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)

Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up 

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

MATCH INFO

Asian Champions League, last 16, first leg:

Al Jazira 3 Persepolis 2

Second leg:

Monday, Azizi Stadium, Tehran. Kick off 7pm

First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus 

The Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets
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