Rice Make
Unannounced Visit To Kirkuk
By ANNE GEARAN
AP Diplomatic Writer
Dec 18, 2007
KIRKUK, (Southern Kurdistan)--Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an
unannounced visit Tuesday to the city that Iraq's Kurds call their Jerusalem, an
oil-rich territory claimed by many where the United States says it sees new
signs of cooperation and progress.
Rice was seeing members of a civilian-military reconstruction unit based in
Kirkuk and meeting provincial politicians of all stripes. She was seeing Iraq's
central leadership later in Baghdad. Such reconstruction units were expanded
along with the escalation of U.S. forces President Bush ordered this year.
Sunni Arabs ended a yearlong political boycott earlier this month in Kirkuk -
the hub of Iraq's northern oil fields - under a deal that sets aside government
posts for Arabs. It was the biggest step yet toward unity ahead of a referendum
on the area's future.
Rice was highlighting that development, although a separate ethnic group is
still boycotting the provincial governing council, and the new role of the
United Nations in resolving the future of disputed Kirkuk.
Rice's visit is her first since a surprise joint appearance with Bush and
Defense Secretary Robert Gates in September, ahead of a report card to Congress
on Iraq's progress. The assessment gave disappointing marks to Iraqi political
efforts, which remain mired in political squabbling and sectarian maneuvering,
and better grades to U.S.-assisted security benchmarks.
Tuesday's visit was meant to underscore an overall reduction in violence that
the Bush administration largely attributes to the escalation of U.S. forces Bush
ordered a year ago.
Attacks in Iraq are at their lowest levels since the first year of the American
invasion in 2003, finally opening a window for reconciliation among rival sects,
Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, said Sunday.
Kirkuk is an especially coveted city for both the Shiite-dominated Iraqi
government in Baghdad and the Kurdish one in Irbil.
Kurds want to incorporate it into their self-rule area, but the idea has met
stiff resistance from Arabs and a constitutionally required referendum on the
issue was delayed to next year.
Much of Iraq's vast oil wealth lies under the ground in the region, as well as
in the Shiite-controlled south. Kurds refer to Kirkuk as the "Kurdish
Jerusalem," and control of the area's oil resources and its cultural attachment
to Kurdistan have been hotly contested.
"It truly is the crossing point for every one of Iraq's ethnicities, every one
of Iraq's religions and sects," said David Satterfield, Rice's top adviser for
Iraq. "Kirkuk is often identified as a flashpoint for the future of Iraq."
