KURD LEADER DOES NOT SUPPORT DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL

Iraqi Kurdistan Province President Mas'oud Al-Barazani Warns Turkey Not to Interfere Over Kirkuk, Declares: I Support The Rights Of The Palestinian People, But... I Am Against Driving Israel Into The Sea (MEMRI)

The following are excerpts from an interview with Mas'oud Al-Barazani, president of the Iraqi Kurdistan province, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on April 6, 2007.

Interviewer: "Do you support peace with Israel – a peace agreement, and an end to this conflict?"

Mas'oud Al-Barazani: "I support a peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue. I support the rights of the Palestinian people, but at the same time, I am against driving Israel into the sea."

Interviewer: "So you don’t support the plan to destroy the state of Israel?"

Mas'oud Al-Barazani: "Of course not."
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Interviewer: "Some groups among the Palestinians and among the Lebanese, like Hizbullah, are still calling, in their ideology, for the destruction of Israel."

Mas'oud Al-Barazani: "This is impossible."

Interviewer: "Are you against it merely because it's impossible, or because you don't want to?"
Mas'oud Al-Barazani: "No, in my opinion, this policy is wrong, illogical, and unreasonable. Why annihilate a people?"

Interviewer: "Because many consider it to be a plundering, occupying people. I believe this statement will reverberate and draw much criticism, Abu Masrour."

Mas'oud Al-Barazani: "I do not believe in annihilating the Israeli people. But by no means do I support denying the Palestinian people its rights, or any Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people."

NOTE HOW THE INTERVIEWER STATES THAT HIS REJECTION OF ANNIHILATING A PEOPLE WILL "DRAW MUCH CRITICISM."