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Divided Kirkuk a rich political prize
Kurds = hope to=20 win control of city -- and its oil wealth

Borzou = Daragahi,=20 Chronicle Foreign Service

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Printable=20 Version=20
Email=20 This Article

Kirkuk, Iraq -- For most Iraqis, Sunday's = election=20 represents a step toward national sovereignty or a chance to make = good on=20 the murky promise of a more secure future. But in this city, many = see the=20 election as about one thing -- Kirkuk.=20

"I am willing to die for Kirkuk, and if attacked, I'm willing = to kill=20 for Kirkuk," said Hoger Sabah Salih, a Kurdish pharmacy student = and=20 resident of nearby Irbil.=20

Kirkuk, although in the north, lies outside the boundaries of = Iraq's=20 Kurdish autonomous region, which will elect its own parliament on = Sunday.=20 But many Kurds consider the city theirs, and they see Sunday's = vote as a=20 grand opportunity to finally bring it under their control.=20

Though impoverished and neglected for decades, Kirkuk is a rich = prize.=20 The surrounding Tamim province yields about 40 percent of Iraq's = oil and=20 70 percent of its petroleum products, as well as much of its = agricultural=20 output.=20

The province's 1.2 million people, about evenly divided between = Kurds=20 and Sunni Arabs, with smaller Turkoman and Assyrian populations, = have=20 observed an uneasy truce since the U.S.-led invasion in March = 2003. But=20 the election is threatening to tip that delicate balance and = ignite=20 long-standing ethnic tensions.=20

Political passions are running high.=20

On Wednesday, three cars exploded at about the same time near = Kirkuk,=20 killing at least eight Iraqis. The victims included six security = officers,=20 a woman and a child, according to a Kirkuk police officer who = spoke on the=20 condition of anonymity. Witnesses said one of the bombers attacked = a=20 police station and another detonated his vehicle near a U.S. = military=20 convoy.=20

For Kurdish politician Rizgar Ali, Kirkuk is the city for which = his=20 people have suffered and sacrificed so much. For Mohammad Khalil, = a Sunni=20 Arab party leader, the city is his mother, the only home his = people have=20 known. To Tahseen Mohammad Ali, a Turkoman leader, all Kirkuk's = children=20 have suffered, including his people.=20

All three seek seats on the provincial council, and they see = this,=20 Iraq's most-heated local election, as a battle to define the = future of=20 this gritty, ancient oil town.=20

Although "Kirkuk for all Iraqis" is the slogan of the Iraqi = Republican=20 Gathering, a Sunni Arab party active in provincial elections, and = Khalil,=20 a party candidate, believes that "Going to vote will benefit our = people,"=20 ethnic tensions have risen as election day approaches. Party = offices have=20 been shot up, and electoral workers have faced increasing threats. = Two=20 human rights leaders were found slain in Kirkuk last week after = being=20 kidnapped.=20

Kirkuk's discord began decades ago when successive Sunni = Arab-led=20 governments in Baghdad began forcing out Kurds and replacing them = with=20 Arabs in the process known as "Arabization." Displaced Kurds who = suffered=20 through decades of despair and misery now demand the right to = return to=20 their homes and help shape the province's future.=20

Responding to a boycott threat by Kurds, the Iraqi Election = Commission=20 decreed earlier this month that tens of thousands of Kurdish = refugees=20 would be allowed to vote in the provincial elections.=20

By last week, nearly 50,000 displaced Kurds -- who were born in = Kirkuk,=20 or whose fathers or grandfathers were born in Kirkuk -- had = registered to=20 vote, the commission said, and more are expected to sign up this = week.=20

Sunni Arabs, who mostly occupy the province's western = countryside, have=20 responded with alarm at the prospect that the city, and its rich = bounty,=20 is slipping out of Baghdad's control.=20

On Monday, the United Arab Front, an Arab party based in = Kirkuk,=20 announced that it would boycott the election to protest the = decision to=20 enfranchise Kurdish refugees. However, the Association of Muslim = Scholars,=20 an influential bloc of Sunni Arab clerics that has boisterously = called for=20 a boycott of the entire election, issued a special addendum to its = policy=20 for Kirkuk, ordering its followers to take part to counter the = strong=20 anticipated showing by Kurds in the provincial election.=20

Iraq's interim constitution, approved last spring, defers the = Kirkuk=20 issue until a census is conducted and a national constitution = adopted by=20 the end of this year. But while the upcoming election will not = immediately=20 determine Kirkuk's ethnic mix, it could set the stage for Kurds to = control=20 the 40-seat provincial council, and by allowing displaced Kurds to = vote in=20 the provincial election, it sets a precedent for letting them = participate=20 in any future referendum on Kirkuk's fate.=20

Ahmad Askari, an official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, = said=20 Kurds will push hard to link Kirkuk to Kurdistan if they take = control of=20 the provincial council. "A high turnout will show that Kirkuk is=20 Kurdish,'' he said.=20

According to one Western diplomat based in northern Iraq, Kurds = have=20 already increase the area they effectively control by 20 percent = since the=20 U.S. -led invasion, pushing the red, white and green flag of = Kurdistan=20 toward Mosul and Khaneqin as well as Kirkuk.=20

This is arousing concern in neighboring Turkey, which is = adamantly=20 opposed to a separate Kurdish nation. A leading Turkish military = official=20 warned Wednesday that the migration of large numbers of Kurds into = Kirkuk=20 could possibly set off a chain reaction leading to the breakup of = Iraq.=20

Gen. Ilker Basbug, deputy head of the Turkish armed forces, = said at a=20 news conference in Ankara, Turkey's capital, that the large = numbers of=20 Kurds who came to Kirkuk to vote could skew the election results. = "These=20 developments could threaten the territorial and political unity of = Iraq.=20 We're worried that such a development would pose an important = security=20 problem for Turkey," he said.=20

The passions surrounding Kirkuk spilled out during a chat with=20 residents organized by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Two Iraqi = journalists,=20 one married to a Kurd and the other a member of the Sunni Arab = party, the=20 Republican Gathering, tangled in a shouting match.=20

"We don't object to the original people of Kirkuk returning," = said Hana=20 al-Sawaf, of the Republican Gathering. "We object to people coming = here=20 who are not from here and (occupying) buildings."=20

Ishraq Hassan Ali, married to a Kurd who fought against Saddam = Hussein,=20 shot back: "I will defend the people who have suffered. These = people are=20 coming back and taking over ... because their houses have been = stolen and=20 they've been kicked off their land."=20

Al-Sawaf responded that her people have suffered since the fall = of=20 Hussein's government because of the Kurds. "I have three brothers = in the=20 Iraqi army, and now they're jobless. My older brother applied for = a job,=20 and he was told they preferred Kurds."=20

"Where were the Arabs," Ali shot back, "when Kurdish children = fleeing=20 Hussein's wrath froze to death in the snow?"=20

Kirkuk's volatile ethnic mix and history, means that governing = it will=20 involve refereeing between competing claims of victimization by = Iraq's=20 different ethnic groups.=20

"As Kurds, we have been victimized by the previous regime," = said Ala=20 Talabani, a politician running for national office on the = Kurdistan=20 Alliance ticket. "We cannot allow that to be repeated and for = someone else=20 to victimize us. We have suffered a lot, and we do not want that = repeated=20 to ourselves or others."=20

Turkomans say they were oppressed and excluded by Hussein and = now face=20 pressure from Kurds. Sunni Arabs and Shiites say they have been = unfairly=20 accused of collaborating with the previous regime. Few groups = appear=20 willing to back down on their demands.=20

"All the major ethnicities of Iraq are located in this = province," said=20 U. S. Army Col. Lloyd Miles, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat = Team of=20 the 25th Infantry Division. "It's often said that if we get it = right in=20 Kirkuk, we can get it right in the rest of the country."

Iraq election, by the numbers=20

Facts and figures about Iraq's election on Sunday=20

14 million=20

Eligible voters in Iraq.=20

Additionally, there are about 255,600 Iraqis in 14 countries = who=20 registered to vote overseas.=20

275 - Seats up for election in transitional National Assembly.=20

111 - Lists competing for assembly seats. This includes nine=20 coalitions, 75 parties and 27 individuals.=20

7,700 - Approximate number of candidates for National Assembly. =

463 - Candidates for 111 seats in Kurdish legislature=20

10,387 - Candidates for local councils in Iraq's 18 provinces.=20

5,220 - Polling centers, with up to seven polling stations at = each=20 center.=20

500 - Voters assigned to each polling station.=20

60 million - Ballot sheets printed.=20

90,000 - Ballot boxes.=20

140,000 - Polling site workers on election day.=20

Sources: Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, United = Nations, U.S.=20 government.

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Divided Kirkuk a rich political prize Kurds = hope to=20 win control of city -- and its oil wealth

Divided Kirkuk a rich political prize
Kurds = hope to=20 win control of city -- and its oil wealth