Kurdish flag flown over government buildings in Iraq city of Kirkuk

The province of Kirkuk in Iraq has just voted for a referendum to determine if the region will join the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) or remain part of the Baghdad government.

The vote was held by members of the Kirkuk provincial council on April 4. The move is seen as likely to increase tensions between the KRG and many in the region. The referendum decision comes just a week after the council voted in favor of flying the Kurdish flag on municipal buildings in the city of Kirkuk. The Turkmen minority in the city protested the flag-raising. Arab members of the provincial council boycotted the vote on the referendum. Najmaldin Karim, Kirkuk's governor, said: "If there is a referendum for Kurdistan, that should include Kirkuk as well. We have a lot of grievances with Baghdad. It’s a strong, centralized and inefficient, incompetent administration. Baghdad is very controlling, and the constitution says Iraq should be federal." Kurds have long claimed Kirkuk and the huge oil reserves in the area and after the Iraqi army retreated, Kurdish peshmerga ended up in control of the area.

There is supposed to be a referendum on the status of Kirkuk. Karim believes such a vote should be included on any referendum vote on independence for Kurdistan. As of now, the KRG is autonomous within the Iraqi government based in Baghdad. Many observers in Baghdad see the referendum vote and the flag flying as unilateral moves designed to annex Kirkuk with its oil wealth to the KRG. On Saturday, the Iraqi parliament voted to repeal the decision to fly the KRG flag over municipal buildings in Kirkuk.

Recep Erdogan, Turkish President, warned the council that raising the KRG over government buildings could lead to strained relations with Turkey. Erdogan wants to be seen as a protector of the Turkmen minority in the area. He may also be concerned about the Kurds gaining any more territory in the area. Iran also complained about the Kurdish action calling it unconstitutional. Iran also has areas dominated by Kurds.

The Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi asked that the Kurdish flags be taken down and to work on Iraqi unity. The acting head of the council claims that they have the constitutional right to fly the flag because the federal government has not yet followed through with Article 140 of the Iraq constitution that would have a referendum settle disputed areas such as Kirkuk.

Al-Abadi told a Kurdish website: "As you know, for a time now there has been talk that Iraq will split into three regions of Kurds, Shias and Sunnis. But that is totally objectionable. We are serious about Iraq’s territorial integrity."

Turkish President Erdogan said: "We don't agree with the claim 'Kirkuk is for the Kurds' at all. Kirkuk is for the Turkmen, Arabs and Kurds, if they are there. Do not enter into a claim it's yours or the price will be heavy. You will harm dialogue with Turkey. Bring that flag down immediately, "

Sectarian conflict and Kurdish demands stymie formation of new Iraqi government

After a long struggle, the Iraqi parliament was able to choose a new speaker, a Sunni, and a new president, a Kurd, and finally after much friction a new prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, a Shia.

In a statement on Saturday, Salim al-Jabouri, speaker of the Iraqi parliament, denounced as "terrorists" the Shia armed group suspected of killing at least 73 people inside a Sunni mosque . After rejecting al-Abadi's nomination at first, the present prime minister Nouri al-Maliki finally gave in to pressure both internal and external to give up his bid for another term. He was promised a role of some sort in any new government. However, al-Abadi was left with the difficult task of forming a new government from groups that are at loggerheads with one another. 

Now a mass killing at a mosque in which at least 73 people were killed has derailed the process of forming a government entirely. In protest at the attack Sunni politicians suspended talks designed to form a new government. Salim al-Jabouri, the speaker and leading Sunni politician denounced the Shia group believed responsible for the attacks as terrorists. He said: "There are those who want to thwart the political process. They are targeting the Iraqi society and its social structures." Both Jabouri ajnd Deputy Prime MInister Saleh al-Mutlak are demanding that present prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and his Shia political allies hand over those responsible for the attack within two days and also compensate families of victims. 

The new prime minister al-Abadi who will take over from al-Maliki once he forms a government also spoke out against the attack:"I strongly condemn the killing of civilians and worshippers in Diyala province and I call on the citizens to reject these attempts by the enemies of Iraq to exploit the incident in order to stir up strife between the sons of the same homeland." Local sources say the attack by the Shia militia may have been in response to a roadside bomb attack that targeted a recruitment campaign of the same militia. 

An Al Jazeera correspondent remarked: "Everyone has been terrified that this could be the incident that could spark another civil war. What we have seen in the past here is that Shia militias and Sunni fighters come in where there is a security vacuum, and that is certainly what we are seeing in Iraq." This event is just one of a number of incidents that show the rising sectarian violence that will make formation of any new government difficult. Back in July Shia militia executed 15 Sunni Muslims and hung them on poles in a public square in the town of Baquba according to police. According to Human Rights Watch(HRW) during the month of July alone Iraqi security forces executed more that 255 prisoners during July in retaliation for atrocities committed by the Islamic State rebels. 

In many areas Sunnis cooperate with the IS. Events such as these will no doubt lead to more alliances with IS in Sunni areas. The Shia and western countries as well as Iran all see IS as simply a terrorist organization to be destroyed. However, many Sunni's will fight against IS only if the Iraq government changes its treatment of the Sunnis. Ahmed al-Dulaimi, the governor of Anbar province that is mostly controlled by IS said: “The only way to fight ISIS is to support the citizens who lost their dignity and their rights under the old government".  

 Not everyone agrees that the attack was carried out by Shia militia members. Some Shia leaders including the cleric and politician Moktad al_Sadr claimed that the attack was an attempt by IS to create an escalation in sectarian violence and said it had the "explicit touch of ISIS". If al-Sadr is correct, the attack worked as intended by IS.

 Even if the Sunni and Shia politicians are able to overcome their differences, the Kurds also may create difficulties that could block formation of a government. The Kurds have occupied new territory since the offensive by IS.They now control the city of Kirkuk and area and have no intention of giving control back to the central government. There are certain demands that the Kurds have that they demand be addressed before they even discuss what their role in a new government will be:

 The negotiators are making several demands of the new government, including implementing Article 140, sending the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) its share of Iraq’s oil revenue, arming the Peshmerga forces and settling disputes over oil in the Kurdistan Region, said Najib Balatayi, one of the Kurdish delegates in Baghdad.  

Another Kurdish negotiator, Zana Rustay said: “We showed that we aren’t in a hurry to form the new government; we are more in a hurry to have our conditions met".

Qatar refuses to return Iraqi vice-president to Iraq to face charges

Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi arrived in Qatar from the KRG the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq. He fled to the area in December after the Maliki government issued a warrant for his arrest on charges that he was involved with death squads that targeted Shias.

The Maliki government asked Qatar to send Hashemi back to Iraq to face the charges. The Qatari minister for foreign affairs said:"Diplomatic norms and the post of Hashemi prevent Qatar from doing such a thing," "Mr Hashemi came in his capacity as a vice president and he continues to occupy this post, and has not been sentenced or stripped of his title," Given that Hashemi is accused of running death squads it is rather strange that the Maliki government has not yet stripped him of his vice-presidency! An Iraqi official said that the Qatari decision to host Hashemi was unacceptable.

Hashemi himself disputed Baghdad's position. Hashemi said that he enjoys constitutional immunity and has not been convicted of anything as yet. The same claim of immunity was used by Kurdistan authorities when they refused to turn Hashemi over to Baghdad.

Hashemi has denied his guilt and complains that the charges are politically motivated. Certainly the charges increase the tension between Shia and Sunni groups since the targets of the alleged Hashemi death squads were Shia. Critics complain that Maliki is trying to consolidate his power.

The Maliki government is not only facing resistance from Kurdistan over its moves but now relations with Qatar have gone sour as well. Kurdistan has stopped all exports of oil over a feud with Baghdad over division of oil revenues and contracts signed by Kurdistan with foreign oil companies. For much more see this article.

Kurdish Regional Government halts all oil exports in dispute with Maliki government

Maliki's federal government claims an exclusive right as far as exporting oil is concerned. The Kurdistan Regional Government begs to differ. To make its point the KRG has halted all exports of oil from Kurdistan. This move will hurt both Kurdistan and the federal Iraqi government.

The KRG claims that the Maliki government owes them $1.5 billion dollars as part of a deal to share revenues. The KRG had already decreased exports to 50,000 barrels a day to protest against the non-payment. According to the KRG they have not received a cent from the federal government in 10 months.

For its part the Maliki government claims the KRG has produced much less oil than promised and as a result owes the Finance Ministry compensation for this failure. This sounds like a lame excuse.

Oil sharing provisions are written into the Iraq constitution but the terms continue to be a matter of dispute. In particular the central government objects to oil deals signed with foreign companies by the KRG. These the central government considers illegal and invalid.

Oil is just one of a number of disputes between the central government and the KRG. The KRG sheltered the Iraqi vice-president who was wanted for supposedly supporting terrorist operations against Shias. For more see this article.