Mosul governor calls for logistical help, suggests ‘air strikes' against ISIL bases

Mosul Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi, who fled from the city after it was seized by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, has called for logistical help and suggested that air strikes could be conducted in “uninhabited areas” against the jihadist group’s bases, in an exclusive interview with daily Radikal.

“We want help, but we are not favorable to the deployment of foreign troops in our region. Air strikes might be conducted, not in the cities but on ISIL bases in uninhabited areas. We need political and logistical support, but not foreign troops,” al-Nujaifi told Radikal journalist Fehim Taştekin in Arbil, where he fled after ISIL took over Mosul.

Al-Nujaifi said Baghdad was unlikely to defeat ISIL without the backing of Sunnis in Iraq.

“In my opinion, we need to find a different way to fight against ISIL. It should not be solved [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s way, but within a Sunni project. This is not the fight of Shiites or al-Maliki, but of Sunnis. Al-Maliki cannot fight against ISIL. Only Sunnis can do that, because then ISIL would not be able to use sectarian issues,” he said, also warning against the interventions of Shiite groups either inside or outside the country.

“This would render the situation much more complicated, adding a sectarian dimension to it. I’m afraid that if such a thing happens, all Sunnis will join ISIL,” al-Nujaifi said, adding that the people had “suffered” from the central government, which he accused of having a “sectarian approach.”

“Society was under heavy pressure from the army and the regime. They did not like the army and needed someone to protect them against the military. Both...