Dr Arafat Stuni

Iraqi Lawmaker: ‘Iraqi's Main Problem is Sectarianism’

On the 22nd February 2015, Soran University's Faculty of Arts welcomed Dr Arafat Karam Stuni, Iraqi Lawmaker, and hosted a seminar for him entitled 'Iraq: Between ISIL and MISIL.' In the presence of a large number of lecturers and students from Soran University, Dr Stuni explained the content of his seminar.

'Everyone knows what the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is, but regarding MISIL, this is a term made up by me and which refers to Shiite militants, who will be a big problem for Iraq and the civilization process in Iraq, in the future.' explained Dr Stuni regarding the title his seminar.
Dr Stuni gave a brief history of ISIL and explained that Iraq is moving in a dangerous direction and that if the Iraqi government fails to control the current situation, and fails to keep the sectarian troops under its control, these troops will threaten the integrity of the state. He asserted that the Iraqi main problem is, therefore, the dominance of sectarianism.
He then assured the attendees that ISIL is a temporary group and will fade away soon, although it may reappear in a different form. But he said that the Shiite militants are a greater danger than ISIL and they will become the main obstacle for Iraqi democracy. Dr Stuni counted the number of the key militia groups and he then linked some of these groups to neighbouring countries.
At the end of the seminar, attendees asked questions and expressed their opinions to which Dr Stuni responded in detail.
Dr Arafat used to be a lecturer at Soran University and the Dean of the Faculty of Law. His opinion is also asked on theological subjects as whole, and Islam in particular.
Report and Photo: Rojhat Mahdi
English Translation: Karwan Fayzi Dri