|
Kurdistan minister warns of consequences
if article 140 not applied
3.4.2007 |
|
|
|
April 3, 2007
Erbil, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- The Kurdish
minister for areas outside Iraq's Kurdistan
autonomous region warned on Monday of grave
consequences in case of failing to apply article 140
of the Iraqi constitution, which is related to the
normalization of the situation in oil-rich Kirkuk in
2007.
This came during a press conference the minister,
Mohammad Ihssan, held on Monday upon his arrival in
Erbil from Baghdad, after a series of talks with the
Iraqi government on implementing article 140 on
Kirkuk.
The minister, who represents the government of
Iraq's Kurdistan in the committee for normalizing
the situation in Kirkuk, said "we want to implement
this article through dialogue."
He warned of dire consequences if the article was
not applied.
"Kurdish fears will not vanish until a referendum is
held, which has to be in public," the Kurdish
minister asserted.
The article stipulates that the normalization of the
situation in Kirkuk can only be achieved through the
return of Arabs, who settled in the city during the
former Iraqi regime, to their hometowns after
offering them compensation, as well as the return of
expelled Kurds. A census will follow the referendum,
during which the people of Kirkuk will decide
whether to stay as part of the Iraqi federal
government or to join Iraq's Kurdistan region.
"Kurds insist that the article be applied because
there are former Baathists in most of the Iraqi
institutions in Kirkuk, despite the topple of former
Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime," Mohammad
Ihssan also said, noting that there was a leadership
crisis in Iraq, "as there are some men who assume
leading positions without having the real ability to
be a decision maker.
"Others do not deal with the Kurdish position
seriously," he added.
"We met with the head of the (Shiite) Unified Iraqi
Coalition, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, during which we
demonstrated the Kurdish position and the
consequences of not applying article 140," the
minister stated.
He denounced the decision of Iraq's cabinet to refer
the approval of the normalization committee's
decisions to the cabinet instead of the premier.
"This decision was wrong because we agreed that the
premier would sign the committee's decisions, not
the cabinet," the minister said.
"Unfortunately they insisted on referring them to
Iraq's cabinet."
Ihsan pointed out that the Kurdistan government was
working on preparing a draft resolution to present
to Iraq's presidency on the administrative borders
of Kirkuk city.
"I conveyed a message from Iraq's Kurdistan
President Massoud Barzani to Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki, which confirmed the Kurds
determination to implement the article," Mohammad
Ihsan noted.
He also criticized those who oppose the
implementation of the article, considering them to
be opposed to the democratic process in Iraq.
Regarding the regional and international position on
applying the article, the minister underlined that
"during our talks with British and U.S. officials we
were convinced that they are resolved and committed
to what we have voted for."
Kirkuk city just outside the Kurdistan autonomous
region and
it is not under the full control of Kurdistan
Regional Government administration, its population
is a mix of majority Kurds and minority of Arabs,
Turkmen.
VOI
The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein 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 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, its population
is a mix of majority Kurds and minority of Arabs,
Turkmen.
The Iraqi Constitution mandates that a referendum on
control of Kirkuk must be held by the end of this
year to decide whether the oil-rich
Kurdish province should be annexed to the safe
semiautonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq's north.
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 