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Kurdish leaders Talabani, Barzani met in
Dukan resort on Kirkuk issue
3.6.2007 |
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June 3, 2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region (Iraq),
Jun 3, -- Iraqi Kurdish top leaders Iraqi president
Jalal Talabani and Kurdistan president Massoud
Barzani met on Sunday in Dukan resort, Sulaimaniyah,
to discuss the implementation of Article 140 of the
Iraqi constitution concerning Kirkuk, a source
from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said.
"Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraq's Kurdistan
region president Massoud Barzani met today in Dukan
resort, Sulaimaniyah, to discuss Article 140
concerning normalizing the situation in Kirkuk and
other areas of dispute between the Kurdish
government and the central government," the source
said.
The source added "the meeting is expected to focus
on shaping up the two leaders' stand towards the
implementation of this article."
The Two Kurdish top officials are expected to give a
press conference following the meeting.
On Saturday, Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani
arrived at Sulaimaniyah from the United States after
a two-week recuperative trip.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
wrapped up a three-day visit to Erbil after meeting
with Kurdistan region President Massoud al-Barazani
on lingering issues including Kirkuk issue. |
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (L) and Iraq's
Kurdistan region president Massoud Barzani (R) |
Kurds want to accelerate the implementation of
constitutional article 140, concerning normalizing
the situation in Kirkuk city, as it was before the
1970s, when the former regime, Kurds claim, lured
Arabs to settle in Kirkuk and drove Kurdish families
out of the city.
The step should be followed by a referendum in the
city to decide whether or not to join the three
other Kurdish provinces in the Kurdistan region by
the end of 2007. Non-Kurdish Iraqi political forces
are inclined to put off the issue until better
security prevails in the country.
Also, the draft oil and gas law, now under debate by
lawmakers in Baghdad, represents another deadlock
between Erbil and Baghdad. Kurdish leaders are
pressing for more power in relation to oil
investment inside the region, while Baghdad has
opted to control all investment contracts in the
country.
VOI
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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 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.
Based on Iraq's Constitution 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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