Iraq’s deputy premier warns of strife over fate of Kirkuk

Iraq's Kurdish deputy prime minister warned that failure to resolve the dispute over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk could result in more strife in the war-ravaged country and accused unnamed parties in the government of blocking a solution.

"We have a choice," Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told The Associated Press in an interview on Monday. "We can either turn Kirkuk into an example of national Iraqi unity ... or turn it into a battlefield of strife between the segments of Iraq." He said it was unacceptable to leave the dispute over Kirkuk unresolved and accused parties within the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of trying to impede a solution spelled out in the 2005 constitution.

"I am a Kurd and see Kirkuk as part of the Kurdish region," Salih said, explaining that because Arabs and Turkmen -- the other two main ethnic groups inhabiting the city -- see it differently, everyone must follow steps set out in the law to resolve the issue. "Maintaining the status quo is unacceptable," he said, adding, "The government is obliged to resolve the issue through legal and constitutional channels."

Salih, like Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, is widely viewed as a moderate Kurd and his assertion that Kirkuk is part of the Kurdish region reflects a widespread conviction among Kurds. But his charge that government parties were working against a solution in Kirkuk reflects tension between the Kurds and their close Shiite allies.

The Kurds and Shiites, who combined make up about 80 percent of Iraq's population, have been close allies since Saddam's ousting in 2003, but recent Kurdish assertions of independence -- like the conclusion of oil exploration deals with foreign companies without involving the central government -- have led to harsh public exchanges between the two sides.

The constitution, which most of Iraq's Sunni Arabs voted against in a 2005 referendum, provides for the "normalization" of Kirkuk -- allowing Kurds forcibly evicted from the city under Saddam Hussein's "Arabization" program to return and inviting Arabs lured there decades ago by financial reward to leave in return for compensation.

A referendum to determine the fate of the city was scheduled to take place before the end of 2007, but it did not and is now expected to be held in the first half of this year.

Kirkuk's Arab and Turkmen residents dispute the Kurdish claim to the city.

09.01.2008
AP  Baghdad