Iraq's Kurdish leader urges enforcement of Kirkuk article

Sep 23, 2007, 14:40 GMT

Baghdad - Iraq's Kurds will not use force to reassert their rights in the northern city of Kirkuk but want immediate implementation of a constitutional article to normalize the situation in the city, their leader said on Sunday.

Kurds took part in elections and the political process and voted for a permanent Iraqi constitution in order to to preserve their national and political rights,' the president of the northern Kurdish Autonomous Region, Masud Barzani.

Speaking at the opening of the conference of the Iraqi Kurdistan students' union in Arbil, Barzani said the implementation of article 140 of the constitution has been held up by stalling, procastrination and foreign threats.

'But we will not accept any delay in its implementation for even a minute based on a political decision,' Barzani said.

However, he hinted at the possibility of delaying implementation on technical grounds for a brief period. But only the parliament of the Kurdish Autonomous Region would be empowered to endorse such a delay.

The future of the northern city of Kirkuk, which is seen as a microcosm of Iraq with its mix of several ethnicities, is a bone of contention between Kurds on the one hand and Turkmen and Sunni Arabs on the other.

The city has seen a surge in violence since the implementation of Iraq's new constitution in which the still-unenforced contentious article 140 outlines a three-step plan to reverse the Arabization policy of Saddam's regime. This policy was part of Saddam's campaign to push out the Kurds.

The constitution also provides for a census followed by a referendum to decide the future of the city to which the Turkmen and Arab populations are opposed.

Kurds, however, support it as it is likely to pave the way for the city to be integrated into the Autonomous Kurdish Region.