US Tacitly Telling Iraq Kurds to Forget Kirkuk
Posted GMT 7-15-2009 10:54:48
Analysts interpret the unexpected trip by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff to Iraq's northern city of a Kirkuk as a warning to ethnic Kurds.
Adm. Mike Mullen traveled on Monday to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk which Kurds have claimed as the capital of their autonomous region in the north.
They have drawn up a draft constitution claiming extra areas as part of the region's territory, including the ethnically divided Kirkuk province and parts of Nineveh and Diyala provinces in official Kurdish territory.
The move irked the Baghdad government and sparked an outrage in Iraq's Arab and Turkmen communities.
"Reports indicate that the US is trying to convince Iraq's Kurd leaders to postpone any decision due to the issue's sensitivity, and that the dispute cannot unilaterally be settled," said Nazar Heydar, an Iraqi affairs analyst who is based in Washington.
Some believe that Mullen's trip is a US warning to Kurd leaders to forget their dream of annexing Kirkuk, he added.
Under a security pact with the Iraqi government, US soldiers in the country left the urban centers two weeks ago and are supposed to fully pull out of Iraqi soil by the end of 2011.
Heydar denoted that there is determination in Washington to increase the political and diplomatic role of the US in Iraq.
The visits by US officials come in line with Washington's intention "to strengthen their foothold in Iraq's key areas, such as Kirkuk, Mosul, or other southern cities like Nasiriyah", he concluded.
Posted GMT 7-15-2009 10:54:48
Analysts interpret the unexpected trip by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff to Iraq's northern city of a Kirkuk as a warning to ethnic Kurds.
Adm. Mike Mullen traveled on Monday to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk which Kurds have claimed as the capital of their autonomous region in the north.
They have drawn up a draft constitution claiming extra areas as part of the region's territory, including the ethnically divided Kirkuk province and parts of Nineveh and Diyala provinces in official Kurdish territory.
The move irked the Baghdad government and sparked an outrage in Iraq's Arab and Turkmen communities.
"Reports indicate that the US is trying to convince Iraq's Kurd leaders to postpone any decision due to the issue's sensitivity, and that the dispute cannot unilaterally be settled," said Nazar Heydar, an Iraqi affairs analyst who is based in Washington.
Some believe that Mullen's trip is a US warning to Kurd leaders to forget their dream of annexing Kirkuk, he added.
Under a security pact with the Iraqi government, US soldiers in the country left the urban centers two weeks ago and are supposed to fully pull out of Iraqi soil by the end of 2011.
Heydar denoted that there is determination in Washington to increase the political and diplomatic role of the US in Iraq.
The visits by US officials come in line with Washington's intention "to strengthen their foothold in Iraq's key areas, such as Kirkuk, Mosul, or other southern cities like Nasiriyah", he concluded.