City Of Kurkik -- One Of Iraq's Many Flashpoints

Of all the political problems facing Iraq, perhaps none is so intractable as the fate of Kirkuk, a city of 900,000 that Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens all claim. Left, the aftermath of a suicide attack on Kurdish demonstrators three weeks ago. Photo: Benjamin Lowy/VII Network

Kurds Assert Control Over Kirkuk --
Houston Chronicle/New York Times

KIRKUK, IRAQ — The phone rang, and it was answered by a Kurdish security commander, Hallo Najat, sitting in his office in this deeply divided city.

On the line, he said, was a U.N. official wanting to know whether it was true that the Kurdish militia, the peshmerga, had left its bases in northern Iraq and was occupying Kirkuk.

No, Najat told the caller. But after hanging up, he wryly revealed the deeper truth about Kirkuk, combustible for its mix of ethnicities floating together on a sea of oil: The Kurds already control it.

"It's true," Najat said. "What is the need for the troops?"

Of all the political problems facing Iraq today, perhaps none is so intractable as the fate of Kirkuk, a city of 900,000 that Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens all claim as their own. The explosive quarrel over the city is one major barrier to creating stable political structures in the rest of Iraq.

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More News On Kirkuk

Ethnic clashes feared in Kirkuk -- UPI
IRAQ: Threat of ethnic tension, violence in Kirkuk -- Reuters
Kirkuk A Flashpoint For Ethnic Divisions In Iraq -- NPR
In Kirkuk Christian and Muslim leaders pray for peace in the country -- Asia News
"Battle for Kirkuk" continues -- Kurdish Globe
Kurdish forces refuse to quit Iraq battlefield province -- AFP
Kirkuk reflects challenges of ethnic conflict in Iraq -- USA Today
Fears of New Fighting as Tensions Mount Over Kirkuk -- Alternet
Kirkuk Derails Iraq's Election Law -- Policy Watch/Peace Watch
Kirkuk Must Remain United (Opinion) -- Institute For War And Peace Reporting

My Comment: Where Kirkuk goes .... is where Iraq will go. The Kurds are believed to be the majority ethnic group in the city (just above 50%), but the other ethnic groups are significant and are looking at Baghdad for support. It is not in anyone's interest for an arm fight to happen in this city .... but Kirkuk has such a lousy history,
one must always assume the worse.