KurdistanObserver.com

Shia Leader: We Didn't Promise The Kurds Kirkuk

By Emine Dolmaci, Ali Ihsan Kus
Wednesday 23, 2005
Turkish's zaman

Seyid Ammar Al-Hakim, second-in-command of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said they share the same sensitivities with Turkey regarding the future of Iraq.

He said they defend the same thesis on the federation and Kirkuk issues with Turkey and Kirkuk is one of the red lines for them in the talks with government.

Visiting Turkey on Monday (March 21) as guest of Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, the son of the SCIRI leader Abdulaziz Al-Hakim, Ammar Al-Hakim added that in the talks for the formation of a coalition government, no final decision has been reached regarding Kirkuk. Meeting in Istanbul yesterday, Al-Hakim also visited with Jaafaris leader, Selahattin Ozgunduz.

Also responsible for SCIRI's cultural affairs, Al-Hakim speaking to Zaman on Tuesday (March 22) said that their priority is to maintain Iraq's territorial integrity. He confirmed that the issues of the distribution of oil income, the joining the Kurdish militia Peshmargas to the Iraqi army, and Iraq being governed by all Iraqis was also discussed among themselves. He said the SCIRI consider Kirkuk as a little Iraq in which Arab, Turkmen, and Kurds all live together. When reminded that people were forced to leave the region during the Saddam Hussein regime, Al-Hakim went on to say that they are against any forced migration from Kirkuk.

'We didn't promise the Kurds Kirkuk'

The second name in SCIRI, Al-Hakim also added that they do not entertain the idea of naming Iraqi territory as either "Sunni region," "Shiite region," or "Kurdish region" and expressed the SCIRI's desire to name all Iraqi lands as the "Iraqi region". He stressed in addition that Shiite officials neither issued a written statement for made a subscription about giving Kirkuk to the Kurds. Kurdish Peshmarga and the Shiite Bedr Brigade should be annulled and combined with the Iraqi Police.