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Kurdish official says Kirkuk normalization
to proceed: interview
22.6.2007 |
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June
22, 2007
Kirkuk, Kurdistan region border with (Iraq),
-- Fu'ad Husayn, director of the presidential office
for the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) told RFE/RL
Iraq analyst Kathleen Ridolfo that the Kurds are
confident Kirkuk will be integrated into the
Kurdistan regional government. Husayn said on June
21 that he expects implementation of Article 140 of
the Iraqi Constitution on the normalization of
Kirkuk to proceed on schedule.
RFE/RL:
Kurdistan regional President Mas'ud Barzani was
cited in the media this week as saying there is a
possibility that the Kurds would accept a delay in
the implementation of Article 140.
Fu'ad Husayn:
No, he didn't say that. Actually, the media
misinterpreted what he said. President Barzani said
"We will never delay; we will never accept any delay
in the implementation of Article 140." He said we
will not accept any change in that article and we
will not accept any delay.
[Barzani] said it is up to the [Kurdish regional
parliamentary] committee on Article 140 [to decide]
when they are going to implement the whole article.
And if the committee says from a technical point of
view we need a few months, then [the KRG] will
discuss that. But, it will never be a political
decision and it will never be a legal change [to the
constitution]. So, [Barzani] made it clear. He will
not accept a delay. He will not accept any change in
the schedule of implementation of Article 140.
RFE/RL: Where
does the schedule stand now?
Husayn: Of
course, that's up to the committee on Article 140,
but they have a time limit. And that time limit is
the end of this year. But Article 140 has to do with
various stages. One stage -- normalization -- which
means resettling the Arabs brought to Kirkuk by
Saddam Hussein to their original areas and returning
the Kurds displaced from Kirkuk back to Kirkuk --
the committee on Article 140 has taken various
decisions as far as this stage, and they are
implementing it.
The second stage has to do with census -- and
actually census doesn't mean to have information
about everything -- but it means to know who is
originally from the area, and who can vote. And
that's easy to know because [since] 2003, we had
various elections, so it is easy to go back to the
[voter] registries and know who is [originally] from
the area and who can vote. And from there, [we move]
to the last stage which is a referendum [on whether
to join the Kurdistan region or remain outside it].
RFE/RL: It was
reported in the media that 100 billion dinars
(nearly $80 million) was allocated to implement the
first phase of Article 140. Where is this money
going, and is it being spent?
Husayn: As far
as the budget for the committee, it has been
allocated to the committee. Part of that budget will
be given to the Arabs [settled in Kirkuk by Saddam
Hussein] so that they can go back and start their
life in their original city. And part of [the
budget] has to do with the work of the committee
itself. So, the Iraqi government has already
allocated an amount for the work of the committee
and to help the Arabs go back.
RFE/RL: It is
possible to move forward with implementation of
Article 140 given the security situation in Kirkuk?
Husayn: Yes,
yes. I think those people who are active now -- the
terrorists and the supporters of the Ba'ath regime
-- they are trying with their actions to delay
Article 140. Their target is either to delete
Article 140 or to delay it, delay the
implementation. When the implementation will start
-- and it started already -- it will help the
population of the area to feel sure about their
future. And we think that will reduce terrorist
attacks.
Actually, there are people who think that
implementation of Article 140 will lead to a civil
war. We think the other way around, because at the
end, those small groups that are now attacking the
Kurds and attacking other government officials in
Kirkuk, they are people who are against Article 140.
They are people who were against the constitution.
They are people who are against the new situation in
Iraq.
So when the stage of implementation will begin, I
think they will feel they are the losers. And the
original people of
Kirkuk, they will feel they are more secure, and
[that] they will have a future.
RFE/RL: What
will happen if some Arab families refuse to be
repatriated to their original towns? Will they be
allowed to stay in Kirkuk?
Husayn:
According to my information, thousands of Arabs have
already registered to go back to their original
[towns]. So
the Arabs who were brought by Saddam Hussein, they
are ready to go back.
The original Arabs [from Kirkuk] -- of course we
have Arabs who have been there for a long time -- of
course they can stay and they will be part of the
society, part of the community. But those who have
been brought [by Saddam Hussein], their registration
will be [transferred] to their original [town] and
then they will leave Kirkuk.
RFE/RL: There
was a proposal by some Arabs and Turkomans to have
Kirkuk designated as a "special status" region where
Kurds, Turkomans, and Arabs share power. What has
been the KRG's response to this proposal?
Husayn: We are
committed to Article 140 and the constitution.
Article 140 says that at the end, the referendum
will decide [Kirkuk's status]. By the way, it's not
just about Kirkuk, it's the whole area -- Sinjar,
Khanaqin, and many other Kurdish [populated] towns.
So, it is up to the population of these areas to
decide, and not [up] to a small group or a political
party to decide. When a referendum is held, and when
people vote, then we will know in which direction
Kirkuk will go. It's not up to some people
especially small political parties from the Arab
side or the Turkoman side to decide.
By the way, there are many Turkomans who are ready
to be part of this process, and they are supporting
the implementation of Article 140. And there are
other Arabs, even the original Arabs who say it will
be better to be part of a secure area than to be
part of a non-secure area -- meaning to be part of
Kurdistan [region].
RFE/RL: What
will the Kurdish reaction be if Baghdad fails to
implement Article 140?
Husayn: We have
the feeling that the Iraqi government is cooperating
at this stage, and they are supporting the committee
that has been formed in Baghdad -- committee on
[Article] 140.
By the way, the majority of the members of the
committee are ministers in the Iraqi government. The
prime minister [Nuri al-Maliki] declared many times,
"It is my duty to implement the constitution and 140
is part of the constitution."
RFE/RL: There is
a committee in the Baghdad parliament that is
working on amending some articles in the
constitution, including Article 140.
Husayn: Yes,
there is a committee that deals with a proposal of
changing the article – changing the constitution.
But changing the constitution must be within the
mechanism of the constitution itself. As far as the
Kurdish [bloc's position], we will not accept
changing Article 140, because changing it means
deleting it. Article 140 has to do with a time
limit, and those who are talking about delaying it,
in fact they are talking about deleting it. So, we
will never accept that.
RFE/RL: Some
people are blaming external forces for influencing
the situation in Kirkuk...
Husayn: Kirkuk
is part of Iraq -- as Irbil and other cities. It is
part of Iraq. So, even if Kirkuk will be part of
Kurdistan [region], we will stay part of Iraq. It is
not up to foreign powers to decide the future of
Kirkuk. It is up to the population of Kirkuk to
decide the future of their city, and it is up to the
Iraqi Constitution, which was voted on by 80 percent
of the population of Iraq, including Article 140. So
this is in an internal affair and has nothing to do
with other [neighboring] countries.
rferl org
**
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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