North Iraq (AINA) -- According to the website nirgalgate.com, Kurdish authorities are coercing Assyrians to sign a form (see below) proclaiming the Nineveh Plains should be annexed to the Kurdish areas and come under the rule of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) visited Assyrian towns and villages in the Nineveh Plains, including Tel Kepe and Wana, and forced the Assyrians to sign the specially prepared forms. The KDP members included Ali Mohammad Salih Garo, the mayor of Wana, Lieutenant Colonel Safar, in charge of the safety of the dam in the region, Lieutenant Colonel Arshad, the Asayesh (Kurdish Security) officer in Wana and other village heads supported by the Zerevani (Kurdish forces that protect the roads).

KDP members also visited the villages of Batnaya and Telesqof, and coerced the Assyrians there to sign the forms.

In a recent meeting with the Assistant to the Representative of the United Nation's Secretary General, Assyrian, Yezidi, Shabak and certain independent Arab tribes expressed their opposition to joining the KRG.

Shaba Dinha of Batnaya stated "we were happy after the fall of the dictator [Saddam Hussein]; however, these practices are a somber reminder of him. We never thought the Kurds, who were victims of these same practices by the former regime, would resort to the same practices."

The following is the translation of the form:

To the Committee Implementing Article (140) We the undersigned notables, clergymen, and mayors from the Christians (Chaldeans, Syriacs and Assyrians) in Telkaif District demand to join the Telkaif District to the region of Iraqi Kurdistan. However, we as Christians should have a "self-rule" within the region of Iraqi Kurdistan. We ask all concerned parties to implement article 140 of the Iraqi constitution and to respect the opinion and will of the people. We hope that the rebuilding of Iraq is based on principles of democracy and the respect of human rights. We implore and insist that our district be joined to Kurdistan region as this is the wish of the people of the area in order to protect our sacrosanct things, including churches, monasteries, worship places and clergymen, specially those who were forced to leave central and southern cities and central Mosul under pressure and oppression of terrorism and due to sectarian killing. Thus, we couldn't find a safer place where we could enjoy dignified living and security except in the shadows of the Iraqi Kurdistan regional government. Hence, we hope that our just demand be answered and our decision honored, knowing that there are geographical, historical, economical and social ties that fasten us to the Iraqi Kurdistan region. April 20, 2008 Translated by Fred Aprim