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U.N. warns of "looming crisis" in Iraq's
Kirkuk 16.1.2007
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BAGHDAD, January
16,-- The United Nations warned on Tuesday of a
"looming crisis" in the oil-rich northern Iraqi
Kurdish city of Kirkuk where ethnic Turkmen and
Arabs are minority.
Sitting atop one of the world's richest oil fields
and just outside the borders of the largely
autonomous Kurdistan region, Kirkuk could become a
regional flash-point, a U.N. report said.
Events in the area are already closely watched by
neighbouring countries such as Turkey, which has
historic links to the Turkmen and is deeply
suspicious of Kurdish ambitions.
Kurds want to annex the city for their capital and
Iraq's new constitution mandates a local referendum
on the issue later this year.
Under Saddam Hussein, Kirkuk was subject to an "Arabisation"
policy that drove many Kurds from their homes and
brought in Arabs, mostly
Shi'ite Muslims from the south.
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.
Since the U.S. invasion of 2003, many Kurds have
returned and Turkmen and Arabs in the city now
complain of "ethnic cleansing".
The Iraq Study Group, which reported to U.S.
President George W. Bush last month, said there was
a "great risk" of the referendum sparking further
violence in Kirkuk.
ARBITRARY DETENTION
In its bi-monthly human rights report on Iraq, the
United Nations said the deterioration of the
situation in Kirkuk was a major concern,
particularly the rights of Arabs and Turkmen, which
it called "minorities" although census data is
disputed.
"They face increasing threats, intimidations and
detentions, often in KRG (Kurdish Regional
Government) facilities run by Kurdish intelligence
and security forces," the report said.
"Such violations may well be the prelude of a
looming crisis in Kirkuk in the coming months," it
said.
The report cited arbitrary detentions by security
forces and by Kurdish militias, and said ethnic
groups have started moving closer to their own
communities for protection.
Turkey fears the Iraqi Kurds will turn Kirkuk into
the capital of a new independent Kurdish state,
which could reignite separatism among the Kurds of
southeast Turkey.
Last week Turkey said it could not stand idly by if
Kurds seize control of Kirkuk, although analysts say
military intervention by Turkey, a NATO ally of the
United States, is unlikely.
But, Ankara could increase diplomatic and commercial
pressure since Turkish territory provides crucial
land routes for potential Iraqi oil exports to the
West.
The U.N. report warned that violence was also rising
in Mosul, another city near Kurdistan where Kurds
and Arabs live in uneasy coexistence. It said 40
civilian and police deaths were reported each week
on average recently.
Reuters
Kirkuk city is a Kurdistani city and it lies just south border of the Kurdistan
autonomous region and it 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.
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