Iraq - Kurdistan

Kurdistan delays poll on expansionist constitution

Article published on the 2009-07-14 Latest update 2009-07-14 12:04 TU

Flames rise from the pipeline of an oilfield in Kirkuk city on 13 July, 2009. Kurdistan hopes the troubled region can become part of its territory
(Photo: Reuters/Ako Rasheed)

The largely autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq announced Monday that it would delay a referendum on a draft constitution that claims extra areas as part of its territory. The plan had angered Iraq’s Arab and Turkmen communities.

Last month, the text of the draft constitution was approved by 96 of the regional assembly's 111 MPs, representing constituencies in three Kurdish provinces.

Under the proposal, oil-producing Kirkuk and other ethnically diverse parts of Nineveh and Divala provinces would become official Kurdish territory.

Mahmud Othman, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament, said the referendum is likely to be postponed for a few months. On 6 July, Iraq’s electoral commission ruled out holding the referendum on the same day as parliamentary and presidential polls on 25 July.

In response to the draft constitution, Turkmen residents of Kirkuk are now seeking the right to arm themselves in self-defence.

Meanwhile, four people were killed in Baghdad and near the city of Baquba on Tuesday.

Two police officers were shot dead while on patrol in the Iraqi capital, according to the interior ministry. One of the armed men who attacked them was also killed.

In a town east of Baquba, a police officer’s nephew was kidnapped and executed, a security official said.

The deaths come two weeks after the United States handed over control of Iraqi cities to local security forces.