Twinning plan with Iraqi city proposed

A UK council's plan to form a friendship link with an Iraqi city to honour a figure who saved British soldiers during and after World War One is due to be discussed.

Portsmouth City Council will investigate forming the bond with Halabja, a Kurdish city in north-eastern Iraq.

The idea was first proposed in 2019 by Kurdish Home, a Portsmouth-based support organisation representing the city's Kurdish community, but progress was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It said the link would honour Lady Adela, a Kurdish noblewoman of the Jaff tribe, which ruled the Halabja region in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

She was recognised for her role in maintaining peace, restoring stability and helping the British during World War One, hosting delegations in the city.

In 1919, when Kurdish nationalist leader Mahmud Barzanji revolted and launched a targeted campaign to murder all British political officers, Lady Adela resisted.

She granted refuge to British officers inside her own homes, saving them from execution.

As a result, the British government awarded her the prestigious title of Khan Bahadur, meaning Princess of the Brave.

A council report said a link with Halabja could benefit Portsmouth through "educational partnerships, cultural exchange, community cohesion, civic engagement and the strengthening of Portsmouth's international relationships".

The Iraqi city was the site of the largest chemical weapons attack in history directly targeting civilians by Saddam Hussein's regime in March 1988.

About 5,000 people died and thousands more were injured.

The potential link has been encouraged by the local Kurdish community in part due to shared suffering experienced in 1988 and Portsmouth's during the Blitz, which killed nearly 1,000 people.

Despite the council saying there were "limited resources" to form and support the link, its twinning advisory group will discuss it on Thursday.