Kirkuk politicians divided on continued presence of US troops

Mar 1, 2010, 16:26 GMT

Kirkuk, Iraq - Politicians in the disputed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk were divided Monday over a reported request from the top US general in Iraq for US troops to remain in the city.

US and British media had reported that General Ray Odierno, commander of US forces in Iraq, had asked for a combat brigade to secure the city, potentially even past the 2011 deadline for US combat troops' withdrawal.

The question of US soldiers' continued presence in the area has taken on special significance in the week ahead of the March 7 parliamentary elections.

'It is important for US forces to remain in Kirkuk, even after withdrawing from other areas,' Mohammed Kamal, a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party and the governing council of Kirkuk, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Many Iraqi Kurds hope to make Kirkuk, with its 10 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the capital of a future independent state.

But Iraqi-Arab politicians view the city and its environs, one of the most ethnically diverse regions of Iraq, as an integral part of the country.

'The province will be on the verge of several important events, including a population census and a referendum to decide the fate of the province and whether it will join (northern Iraq's semi- autonomous) Kurdish region,' Kamal said.

Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution calls for a census and referendum to settle the question of Kirkuk's status, but politicians have repeatedly delayed both for fear of igniting tensions.

'A remaining US combat brigade in Kirkuk would contribute to stability and security, as well as to resolving several issues, such as territories disputed by the Kurdish government and the Iraqi Federal government,' Kamal told dpa.

They would do this, he said, by providing 'advisory support to political entities.'

Mohammed Khalil al-Jabouri, head of the Arab List in Kirkuk's governing council, agreed.

'It is absolutely necessary and important for US forces to remain in Kirkuk, even after 2011, in order to maintain some kind of national balance in the security forces and to distribute them justly,' he told dpa.

But Tahsin Mohammed Kahiya, who represents the Turkman Islamic Alliance in the Kirkuk governing council said that the continued presence of US combat troops in the city past 2011 would violate the terms of the US-Iraqi agreement covering the continued US presence in the country.

'The US commander's (reported) suggestion of maintaining a US combat brigade in Kirkuk after the US withdrawal from other areas is illegal and unconstitutional,' he told dpa.

'Keeping US troops in the city is not under his authority, but under that of the parliament and the elected government,' Kahiya said, adding that he believed Iraqi security forces were up to the job.