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Article 140 committee's mandate extended
for another six months
16.12.2007
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December
16, 2007
Baghdad, -- Iraqi leaders and Kurdistan
premier agreed to extend the work of the High
Committee for Implementation of Article 140 of the
Iraqi constitution for another six months, according
to a UN press release.
"UNAMI is pleased to note that there is general
agreement among the presidency council, with the
concurrence of the prime minister of Iraq and the
prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG), on the urgent need to initiate a process in
order to accelerate the implementation of Article
140 of the Iraqi Constitution," the United Nations
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a press
release.
"This process will place particular emphasis on, but
not be limited to, issues relating to the Northern
provinces of Iraq," read the release.
"In view of the technical and logistical difficulty
of holding a referendum prior to 31 December 2007,
as mandated in the Constitution, and given the
corresponding need for a technical delay, it has
been indicated to UNAMI that the next best step
would be to initiate, in January 2008, and within
six months, a process of facilitating the
implementation of the Article with technical
assistance of the United Nations (UNAMI/Baghdad) to
the authorities involved,www.ekurd.net
including the High
Committee for Implementation of Article 140. This
would enable all parties involved to contribute
constructively to such a process," it added.
"UNAMI wishes to thank all the Iraqi authorities for
their confidence in the capacity of the United
Nations to provide technical assistance in this
delicate but important and urgent endeavor," the
release concluded.
Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution is related to
the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk, an
important and mixed city of Kurds, Turkmen,
Christians and Arabs. Kurds seek to include the city
in the autonomous Iraq's Kurdistan region, while
Sunni Arabs, Turkmen and Shiite Arabs oppose the
incorporation. The article currently stipulates that
all Arabs in Kirkuk be returned to their original
locations in southern and central Iraqi areas, and
formerly displaced residents returned to Kirkuk, 250
km northeast of Baghdad.
A referendum, provided for in the Iraqi
constitution, was scheduled to be held by the end of
the current year on including the city into the
Kurdistan region.
An Iraqi parliament vote in early September extended
the work of the concerned committee until the end of
2007, delaying the referendum on Kirkuk's status
that was expected by the end of 2007.
Established in November 2006, the committee is
composed of 29 Iraqi politicians of all hues and is
concerned with resolving all constitutional
disputes.
Kirkuk city is a
Kurdish 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, the population is a mix of majority
Kurds and minority of Arabs, Christians and Turkmen.
lies 250 km northeast of Baghdad.
The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein forced
over 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their
homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city
and the region's oil industry.
VOI
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