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Kirkuk governor survives attack 28.11.2006
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KIRKUK,
Kurdistan-Iraq, November 28, -- The governor of the
northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk has survived a
suicide bomb attack, police say.
Abdul Rahman Mustafa and his bodyguards were
unharmed in the blast in the city of Kirkuk, which
killed one civilian and injured at least another 12
people.
The attack happened as the governor's convoy was
driving slowly through the city centre.
The bomber with a belt of explosives blew himself up
after failing to get inside the governor's car.
The attack took place at about 0935 local time (0635
GMT), police say.
"It was the third assassination attempt on my life,
but it will not stop me doing my job," Gov Abdul
Rahman Mustafa told Reuters news agency.
Two weeks ago, Kirkuk governor survived unhurt
another assassination attempt when an explosive
charge went off at his motorcade near the law
faculty college, north of Kirkuk
Oil-rich Kirkuk lies about 290km (180 miles) north
of Baghdad.
The predominantly Kurdish city has witnessed a spate
of bombings in recent months.
The former Iraqi president forced about 250,000
Kurdish residents to give up their homes to Arabs in
the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city and the region's
oil industry.
Kirkuk city is not under the full control of
Kurdistan Regional Government administration. A
referendum is to be held in late 2007 to decide
whether the oil-rich Kurdish province should be
annexed to the safe semiautonomous Kurdistan region
in Iraq's north.
The stakes are extremely high. With Kirkuk housing
the second-largest oil fields in Iraq and accounting
for 70 percent of Iraq's natural-gas deposits, the
issue of oil revenues further underscores the
strategic importance of the city.
Kirkuk, in a sense, is a microcosm of Iraq, with its
mixture of ethnic groups and religious sects
jockeying for power.
Thus, if the situation in Kirkuk could be
reconciled, it could perhaps be a model for
resolving the divisions and sectarian strife
currently engulfing Iraq as a whole.
As an unnamed Western diplomat told "The Guardian"
on October 28, "If Kirkuk survives, then there is
hope for Iraq."
BBC | RFE/RL | Agencies
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