Kurdish commander threatens to fight Iraqi forces 21 nov 12

[Anthea]

Kurdish commander threatens to fight Iraqi forces in disputed areas if troop movements continue

ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',— The commander of Kurdish Peshmerga forces warned Tuesday that his troops might attack Iraqi government soldiers at "any minute" after the central government sent tanks and armoured vehicles toward the disputed city of Kirkuk.

The threat was the latest sign of increasing tension between the autonomous Kurdistan region and Baghdad after the central government sent forces last month to the area, including disputed sites in a new military command.

Already poor relations between the central government and Kurds worsened after an Iraqi government decision last month to set up a new military command there. The force also oversees disputed areas claimed by Iraqi Arabs, Turkomen and Kurds, in particular the areas surrounding Mosul and Kirkuk.

U.S. forces once supervised the area, helping Kurdish and Arab security forces form joint patrols.

"A big battle might erupt any minute," commander Mahmoud Sankawi told The Associated Press. His Peshmerga forces control security in the Kurdish autonomous region and are also present in disputed areas that Kurds seek to add to their self-ruled are. "We are on high alert. We will not allow any force to threaten the security of Kurdistan. We will resist them," he said.

Sankawi said overnight, some 30 Iraqi government tanks took up positions some 50 miles (80 kilometres) from Kirkuk. He said dozens of other tanks were positioned in the Hamrin mountain, some 95 miles (150 kilometres) from Kirkuk. The city lies on the outskirts of the autonomous Kurdish region.

The commander of Iraqi government forces in the area, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir al-Zaidi, told The Associated Press that three brigades of national police,www.ekurd.net one regiment of artillery and special forces were sent toward Kirkuk, but he would not say if the disputed city was their final destination.

"We have the right to go wherever we want to enforce the law, and if anybody stops us, we will use force," he said. Later, a spokesman said al-Zaidi would not make any further comments.

A senior government official denied Baghdad was trying to exacerbate tensions.

"If some Kurdish leaders try to escalate the situation, they will be held responsible," said the official who spoke anonymously, because he was not permitted to brief reporters. "Kurdish officials should not behave in a way that creates a problem."

Last Friday, Baghdad government forces and Kurdish guards clashed for the first time, sparked by a police hunt for a smuggler who sought refuge in a Kurdish political party office. A civilian was killed.

Iraq's central government and Kurds have had heated disputes over land, oil and power sharing since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

Also Tuesday, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a leading Kurdish figure, met the head of the autonomous region, Massoud Barzani, in the city of Erbil his spokesman said.

The oil-rich province of Kirkuk is one of the most disputed areas by the regional government and the Iraqi government in Baghdad.

The Kurds are seeking to integrate the province into the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region clamming it to be historically a Kurdish city, it lies just south border of the Kurdistan autonomous region, the population is a mix of majority Kurds and minority of Arabs, Christians and Turkmen, lies 250 km northeast of Baghdad. Kurds have a strong cultural and emotional attachment to Kirkuk, which they call "the Kurdish Jerusalem." Kurds see it as the rightful and perfect capital of an autonomous Kurdistan state.

Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution is related to the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk city and other disputed areas through having back its Kurdish inhabitants and repatriating the Arabs relocated in the city during the former regime’s time to their original provinces in central and southern Iraq.

The article also calls for conducting a census to be followed by a referendum to let the inhabitants decide whether they would like Kirkuk to be annexed to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region or having it as an independent province.

The former regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had forced over 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city and the region's oil industry.

http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/mi ... kuk758.htm

MY THOUGHTS:

After the downfall of Saddam and his not nice regime WHY were not the Arabs REMOVED from Kirkuk and the land returned to its rightful KURDISH owners ? ? ?