Kurds Say To Leave Iraqi Government If Demands Not Met
Azzaman, February 6, 2008
The Kurds will withdraw from the government of Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki if
their share of the country’s oil revenues is reduced.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of parliament, and a veteran Kurdish politician
accused “certain political factions” in the government of attempts to “slash the
gains Kurds have made” since a U.S.-led invasion toppled the regime of former
leader Saddam Hussein.
Othman accused some Arab parliamentary blocs, both Shiite and Sunni, of attempts
to “ignite Arab-Kurdish strife.”
Tension between Arab Sunnis and Shiites has subsided recently with tribal
leaders, clergymen and politicians of both sides working together to reduce
levels of violence.
Othman said both Arab Sunnis and Shiites were trying to undermine the Kurds.
Kurdish delegations some headed by Othman himself are in talks with Maliki on
the percentage of oil money that will go to their regional budget.
The Kurds demand 17 percent but the government and its Arab allies say the
figure is not representative of the population of their semi-independent enclave
currently including the three province of Duhok, Arbil and Sulaimani.
This year’s budget has yet to be approved by the parliament but differences over
Kurdish share have blocked the approval.
MPs from both Shiite and Sunni blocs are said to have vowed turn down any budget
proposal that meets Kurdish demands on oil royalties.
But Othman said if the parliament rejects the proposal, the Kurds will leave the
government.
A Kurdish departure will deny Maliki the parliamentary majority but analysts say
Arab factions, both Shiite and Sunni, which have so far shunned the government,
may join in.
“Some elements in the parliament carry Chauvinistic minds,” said Othman in the
harshest criticism of the current Shiite and Sunni liaison in
parliament.
In response, some MPs alleged that the Kurds were fomenting the sectarian strife
and were not happy to see it subsiding.
