ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –

The Iraqi government continues to remove Kurds from senior government and military positions, replacing them with Arabs, Kurdish officials complain.

Over the past few months, according to Rudaw sources, Baghdad has replaced Kurds in the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) and from posts in the Iraqi army.

The director of the federally-administered Fort Suse prison in Kurdistan and the deputy general director of Hajj and Umrah Higher Commission were replaced by Arabs on the direct orders of Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"We have appointed weak people to tell them that this is not right and they won’t transgress on our rights. This is not a new issue. Even before the formation of the government, we have been careless," said Mohammed Ihsan, a minister in the Kurdistan Regional Government and the former KRG representative to Baghdad.

Kurdish officials from the Ministry of Peshmarga have said that Kurds only make up two percent of the Iraqi army. The Iraqi government has refused to consider Peshmarga forces as part of the Iraqi defense system and has refused to pay and equip them. In the meantime, Maliki continues to reinstate former officers from the dissolved Iraqi army.

A Kurdish MP believes that such measures by Baghdad are aimed at weakening the Kurds and bringing them to their heels.

"These pressures, such as removing Kurds from the posts, the budget pressure and oil are to compel you to return to Baghdad and become its appendix," argued Sirwan Zahawi, former MP from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) faction.

Zahawi said that the KRG must not yield to such pressures, because this is a matter of partnership in the political process and running the country.

"This should not be accepted. The issue in Iraq is whether we are a partner or not. Baghdad wants to slam this partnership," he said.

Rudaw