Factions clash in oil-rich Kirkuk

Seven bombs detonating in the space of 35 minutes sent up clouds of black smoke over the center of Kirkuk early on Mar. 19. The explosions in Arab and Turkoman districts killed 12 people and injured 39, but exactly who was behind them is unclear. The bombings are sign of growing unrest in the northern Iraqi city. "I firmly predict there will be a rumor the Kurds were behind these bombings," said Rafat Hamarash, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Kurdish political party that largely controls the city. He said somebody wanted to stir up ethnic divisions between Kurd, Arab and Turkoman before they vote on the future of Kirkuk in nine months' time. The city is approaching a critical moment in its long history. In December, there is a referendum, its timing agreed under the Iraqi constitution, when 1.8 million people of Kirkuk province will vote on whether or not to join the highly autonomous Kurdish region that is already almost a separate state. Kurds will vote in favor and probably win; Arabs and Turkomans will vote against and lose. The control of Kirkuk divided Kurds from Arabs in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and continues to do so. The city is commonly called "a powder keg" though it has yet to explode. But that does not mean it will not happen and the referendum might just be the detonator for that explosion. The Kurds believe they were a majority in the city until ethnically cleansed by Hussein and replaced by Arab settlers. As the regime crumbled in April 2003, the Kurds captured Kirkuk and its oil fields. They have no plans to give them up. In negotiations in Baghdad with Arab political parties, they fought for and won the right to take back Kirkuk constitutionally. First comes "normalization," to be concluded by the end of this month, whereby Arab settlers leave and Kurds return. After that there will be a census and, finally, before the end of 2007, a referendum on becoming part of the Kurdistan regional government.