Aljazeera International on the Kirkuk Crisis

The struggle over the oil city of Kirkuk has so far derailed provincial elections in Iraq.

Aljazeera International on the Kirkuk crisis (part 1)

Aljazeera International on the Kirkuk crisis (part 2)

The USG Open Source Center translates an item from the Kurdish Press

‘ Iraqi Kurdish MP says USA not a real ally
Hawlati
Saturday, August 16, 2008
OSC Summary

Iraqi Kurdish MP says USA not a real ally

Iraqi Kurdish independent MP Mahmud Uthman of the Kurdistan Alliance has said that the USA is pushing the Kurds to make a concession on the Kirkuk issue, Hawlati privately-owned fortnightly newspaper reported on 6 August.

The paper quoted Uthman as saying: “The USA is pushing the Kurds to make a concession on the Kirkuk issue.” He added: “The USA backs the other parties and pushes the Kurds when the Kurds are having a difficult time. The USA is a friend of the Kurds when it is in the US’s own interest; otherwise, it has never backed the Kurdish demands.”

The paper also quoted Kurdish political expert Salar Besara as saying: “The Kurds are one of the naive nations that have been betrayed throughout history.” He added: “The USA betrayed the Kurds up to the end of the Kurdish September Revolution (refers to early 1960s to 1975, when the revolution capitulated to the Algeria agreement between Iran and Iraq) while the USA was regarded as an ally.”

Besara added: “The USA is very much in need of the Kurdish peaceful areas in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Kurds are neither against the USA nor do they support terrorism. Therefore, the USA does not want to provoke them. However, the current conditions depend on the US’s long and short-term strategies as well as Iraq’s internal situation.”

(Description of Source: Al-Sulaymaniyah Hawlati in Sorani Kurdish — weekly independent newspaper) ‘