ARBIL,(Southern Kurdistan), Oct 31 (AFP) The Kurdish parliament in north Iraq began Thursday to debate two draft constitutions envisaging an Arab-Kurdish federation in Iraq and self-rule for the northern enclave, which is off-limits to the Baghdad government.

The constitutions call for major powers to remain in the hands of Iraq's central government, but stipulate that oil-rich Kirkuk, now under the control of Baghdad authorities, would be the capital of the Kurdish region of a "federal" Iraq.

The parliament, which is expected to endorse the documents after debating them over several sessions and introducing minor amendments, met at its seat in Arbil.

Bernard Kouchner, a former French minister and chief UN administrator in Kosovo who is currently visiting the region, was present.

The two overlapping constitutions were approved by the main Kurdish parties sharing control of north Iraq -- Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) -- before their regional parliament convened for the first time in six years on October 4.

The revival of parliament -- in which the KDP holds 51 seats and the PUK 49, with five seats reserved for Assyrian Christians -- climaxed peace moves between the two former rivals against the backdrop of US threats to attack Iraq and oust President Saddam Hussein.

The proposed constitution for Iraqi Kurdistan describes the Kurdish north as one of two regions, the other being Arab, making up a "federal Iraq" that would have a "democratic, parliamentary and republican system."

The Kurdish region would comprise Kirkuk in addition to the three provinces currently included in the enclave, namely Arbil, Dahuk and Suleimaniya, based on pre-1968 administrative borders.

Kirkuk would be the capital of the Kurdish region, whose four provinces would be sub-divided into eight districts.

The region would have its own flag, alongside the Iraqi flag, and defense forces drawn from the present Kurdish fighters, or peshmergas. It would have its own legislative and executive authorities, including a president directly elected by the people and a cabinet.

While the proposed constitution stipulates the Kurds should receive part of Iraq's oil revenues commensurate with their proportion of the population, it envisages a form of autonomy that leaves major powers in the hands of Baghdad.

These include foreign and defense affairs, signing of bilateral treaties and international conventions, war and peace issues, economic and planning policies, and investment in the oil sector.

The proposed constitution calls for freedom of expression and association in the Kurdish enclave, and upholds the rights of other ethnic groups in the area, including the Turkomen, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Armenians and Arabs.

Under the draft constitution for a federal Iraq, Baghdad would commit to the United Nations to uphold the borders and rights of both the Arab and Kurdish regions.

If the president is Arab, the prime minister would be Kurdish, and vice versa, according to the proposal, which says any dispute between federal and local authorities would be settled by a higher constitutional court.

Officials here say the Kurdish parliament will set a date for starting implementation of the enclave's constitution after ratifying it.

The proposed constitution for Iraq as a whole is due to be put to other Iraqi opposition factions for their approval.

Iraqi Kurds have over the past decade tried to persuade other groups opposed to Saddam to support the concept of a "federal" Iraq granting them a measure of self-rule in their enclave.

The northern Kurdish enclave, home to 3.6 million people, has effectively been autonomous since it came under Western protection at the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

Kurdish leaders have sought to reassure Iraq's neighbors, chiefly Turkey, that they are not planning to establish an independent Kurdish state if the United States carries out its threat to topple Saddam.