Kurds Lay Out Conditions For Staying Iraqi

"There are three red lines for us... If they are crossed, we will no longer be Iraqis," Noshirwan Mustafa, an aide of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani, told AFP in an interview.

"If the Arabs do not accept the principle of federalism, we will no longer be Iraqis. If they insist on a theocratic regime, we will no longer be Iraqis. And Kurdish territories must be returned to Kurdistan," he said.

His comments, days ahead of elections, come amid rising tensions in Iraq's north, particularly in the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk, which lies outside the autonomous region of Kurdistan but is coveted by Arabs and Kurds alike for its oil reserves.

The region of Kurdistan, controlled by the PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), is to elect an autonomous parliament as well as vote for Iraq's national assembly.

The two parties have studiously avoided making any mention of independence in the run-up to elections in the hope of preserving the autonomy won in 1991 after years of bloody conflict with Saddam Hussein's regime.

"We think that the time for micro-states has passed. What is profitable for the Kurds is to continue to be part of Iraq," said Mustafa.

However like other Kurdish leaders, Mustafa is nervous that Iraq's post-election government, expected to be dominated by Shiites, could chisel away at the rights given to the Kurds in Iraq's provisional constitution of March 2004.

"If this is the case it is possible that we will conclude that the constitution is to be rejected."

And such threats are not empty rhetoric.

The provisional constitution stipulates that Iraq's new basic law must be put to a referendum, which could declare it invalid if two-thirds of the electorate vote against it in three of Iraq's 18 provinces.

This gives Kurdistan considerable clout as it has three provinces within its borders and the result would be easy to predict if Kurdish leaders decided to campaign for a 'no'.

The Shiites have made clear their displeasure at this effective right of veto, but Mustafa argued that the Kurds share this power with Iraq's Sunni minority given their population spread in three Iraqi provinces.

"The new Iraqi constitution is not a question of majority or minority. We want it to be the fruit of a consensus."

"We need to take into account the hopes of the Sunnis. Also movements are being formed in the Shiite regions to create federal regions."

Mustafa said the Kurds had a clear idea of the limits of central power, which should be defined by the new constitution. "Foreign policy, defence and finances should be the preserve of the state, the rest is for the region."

Neither will the Kurds renounce their claim to Kirkuk oil, he said, amid mounting tension in the city after Arab candidates pulled out the provincial election in protest at a decision to grant displaced Kurds the right to vote.

"The central government controls the oil of Kirkuk. This has to change."

He added that Kirkuk "must return to Kurdistan, like all the Kurdish zones" that were subject to Arabisation policies under Saddam.

"We don't have anything against Arabs, but the provisional constitution stipulates that the problem should be resolved, that the Arabs should return to where they have come from and Kurdish deportees should return to Kirkuk."

Mustafa talks effusively about how life has changed since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

"In any case from a Kurdish point of view the situation is better today. The Americans have accomplished more than we expected. They got rid of Saddam Hussein for us, of his army, of his police."

Kurds represent some 20 percent of Iraq's mainly Arab population. Their region has been spared much of the violence that has followed the March 2003 invasion, which the Kurds staunchly supported.