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OPINION

Friday 16th of May 2008 08:28:38 AM GMT+2

Kurdish leaders pushed on all sides

The leaders of northern Iraq's Kurdish administration are facing tough days ahead. The Iraqi Arabs both Sunni and Shiite seem to unite against the Kurds who seem to be pushing for more autonomy.

Ilnur Cevik

29 January 2008

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ilnurcevik@yahoo.com

The leaders of northern Iraq's Kurdish administration are facing tough days ahead.

The Iraqi Arabs both Sunni and Shiite seem to unite against the Kurds who seem to be pushing for more autonomy.

The Kurds are angry with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who they feel has misled them. Kurdish leaders say Maliki promised to deliver Kirkuk as well as agree to finance the peshmerga forces but none of that has happened.

On the contrary the Baghdad government is dead against the Kurds running their own oil industry and dishing out oil exploration contracts. The Iraqi oil ministry has already told international oil companies who operate in the Kurdish area without the blessing of Baghdad that they will face a ban.

On Kirkuk the Iraqi Kurds have had to accept a six month delay in the referendum for the future of Kirkuk. The Kurds hoped the referendum will give them the province. However, now there are many Kurds who believe that referendum will never take place.

The Iraqi Arabs say they had to bow to Kurdish demands when the constitution was being written and they were too weak. Now the picture has changed, the Arabs have regained their self confidence and are challenging the article 140 of the constitution on Kirkuk. As a matter of fact the issue is not just Kirkuk. The Kurds want some sections of Mousul province as well as some other areas near to their current Kurdish controlled region.

Beyond that the Kurds want Baghdad to finance their peshmerga forces. Iraqi Kurds want Baghdad to pay for 80,000 peshmerga soldiers claiming that these people are needed for border security and general security purposes. They also want ton retire about 60,000 peshmerga soldiers and want Baghdad to pay the pensions. Iraqi Arabs say such a force is too large and that the Kurds should have only 30,000 peshmerga soldiers. The Arabs say such a bog force would eventually become a security hazard for the Arabs if the Kurds entertain secessionist ideas. In recent months Kurds have been pushed to pay the salaries of the peshmerga. There are reports that the peshmerga soldiers have not been paid for four months.

All in all the Arabs are not buying all this

They want to Kurds to tone down their demands and start acting like Iraqis rather than potential secessionists. This also pleases Turkey.

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