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Kurdistan president sees risk over Iraq's
Kirkuk city
1.12.2011 |
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December 1, 2011
ERBIL-Hewlêr,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — The U.S. withdrawal from
Iraq next month will not impact security in the
semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, but Baghdad's
delay deciding the fate of the disputed city of
Kirkuk could prove "dangerous," the Kurdish
president said on Wednesday.
Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional
Government KRG, said he is ready to work with the
central government to avoid a deterioration in
security as Washington pulls out its remaining
13,000 troops by the end of December.
"The U.S. withdrawal will not have any impact on the
security situation in the Kurdistan region, because
there have
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Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani. Photo: Reuters |
been no American forces in the region. As for the
rest of Iraq's security, there is a worry," he told
Reuters in an interview.
"We are ready to cooperate with Baghdad so as not to
allow any security breach or void," he said.
Baghdad and Kurdistan's capital Erbil have a
long-running dispute over territory and oil rights
along their internal border, especially over who
controls Kirkuk city, which sits atop some of the
world's largest oil reserves.
A census to determine whether the city has a Kurdish
or Arab majority that would back up either claim has
been repeatedly delayed. The tussle over the
disputed territories is seen as a potential
flashpoint as U.S. troops withdraw.
Barzani said his government will continue demanding
a vote on the fate of Kirkuk -- claimed by the Kurds
as their ancestral homeland -- without any
concessions.
"We have exercised the maximum levels of flexibility
on this issue and when we approved article 140, we
had no doubt on the identity of these areas, they
are Kurdish areas," Barzani said.
Article 140 in the Iraqi constitution calls for a
resolution of dispute areas through different stages
including voting in a referendum. The census would
be a key initial step toward a vote on resolving the
territorial dispute.
"The future of Kirkuk is linked to the execution of
article 140, if this article was executed then the
issue of Kirkuk would be solved and the people of
Kirkuk are the ones who will decide their fate," he
said.
"If there are delays or (attempts) to avoid the
Iraqi constitution, then the future will be really
very dangerous."
Iraq territories disputed by Kurds and the Arab-led
government in Baghdad, include Kirkuk and areas in
the troubled northern Nineveh province.
NO CONCESSIONS
Asked if he was willing to offer concessions to
Baghdad by giving away Kirkuk to solve a
long-standing row over oil revenue and contracts,
Barzani said: "No way. This is an identity issue, an
issue of honor, an issue of dignity, how could we?
The issue of oil and gas is another subject, you can
never link them."
Kurdistan is also facing shelling and air strikes by
troops in neighboring Iran and Turkey who are trying
to strike camps run by Kurdish rebel groups the PKK
and PJAK. Both use the Iraqi border mountains as a
refuge from Turkish and Iranian military.
Shelling and air strikes have forced some Kurdistan
villagers from their homes along the border.
Barzani said his government could consider sending
local Kurdish Peshmerga forces to the region's
borders with Iran if the situation deteriorated
further.
He added the regional government has been in talks
with the PKK to stop their military assaults against
Turkey. Attacks by PKK separatist rebels on Turkish
military have prompted Ankara to launch airstrikes
on the Iraqi border mountains.
"We are in contact (with the PKK) and will exercise
the maximum pressure on the PKK to stop their
military operations because this is playing with the
fate of the Kurdish people," said Barzani,www.ekurd.net
himself a former guerrilla leader.
"Now is not the time for military operations, one
can fight for a cause in peaceful and democratic
ways, this is the solution."
By Rania El Gamal
Copyright © 2011, respective
author or news agency,
Reuters
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