ARBIL, Iraq, March 28, 2008 (AFP) - Kurdistan Regional Government would be ready
to accept an equitable political solution other than a referendum to the
controversial issue of control of the oil-rich Kirkuk area, a senior official
said on Friday.
"If there is any other solution (than the referendum), the government of
Kurdistan is committed to be part of this solution, that could be an option,"
the Kurdistan government's official responsible for external relations told AFP.
"The government of Kurdistan would be ready to accept a political agreement that
would satisfy all the parties," added Falah Mustafa Bakir.
The oil hub, 255 kilometres (158 miles) north of Baghdad, is claimed by both
Arabs and Kurds, and a referendum to decide its fate was to have been held last
December but was delayed after UN intervention.
Kurdish leaders agreed to a six-month postponement of the vote at the
recommendation of the United Nations.
Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution stipulated that a referendum on Kirkuk be
held by the end of 2007 to decide whether its oil wealth should be integrated
into the autonomous Kurdish region.
Kirkuk has been gripped by ethnic tension since the US-led invasion of 2003,
with Arab and Turkmen residents fearful they would be marginalised if the city
were handed over to the Kurds.
Under Saddam Hussein's regime, Kirkuk was the scene of a massive population
upheaval with tens of thousands of Kurdish residents expelled to make way for
Arab settlers.
Today it has a mixed population of Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and Christians, and
since 2003 Kurdish politicians have encouraged Kurds to settle there.
"Kirkuk is rightfully ours, therefore we don't need to use violence," said Bakir,
who called the city "the symbol of our oppression in the past."
"If Kirkuk is important for others, it is for petrol. But for Kurds, it is for
justice.
"Kirkuk is deep in the heart of the Kurds -- nobody among the Kurds is ready to
make a concession on this issue," Bakir said.
"We want to recover Kirkuk peacefully by a legal process," he said, adding that
the Kurdish authorities "have been very patient, very flexible."
He said it was in everyone's interest to resolve the issue.
But asked if violence could erupt should the question of Kirkuk remain
unresolved Bakir replied: "If it continues like that, unsolved, yes."
