A war between Arabs, Kurds may loom in Iraq

KIRKUK, Iraq — While the world focuses on Baghdad's security, a series of bombings here may be the long-feared start of a second deadly war in Iraq — this one between Kurds and Arabs, both with claims on a territory atop one of the world's largest oil reserves.

If the escalating violence in Kirkuk erupts into all-out fighting between heavily armed Kurdish and Arab groups, it could spark a wider conflict involving Turkey or Iran. That risk puts the United States in a bind, caught between ally Turkey, which is on the side of Arabs and ethnic Turkomen here, and the Kurds, another strong U.S. ally.

The issue is coming to a head because of a provision in the Iraqi constitution that calls for a referendum by year's end on Kirkuk's future. Arabs and Turkomen, backed by Turkey, want to put the vote off — worried about Kurdish dominance and more violence if the referendum is held and Kurds win.

But Kurds are determined to press ahead. They deny it's because of the black gold in the ground.

"We will have Kirkuk — not for its oil but because it is our history," said Rizgar Ali Hamajan, a Kurd who is chief of the local provincial council.

In the past two weeks, the city 180 miles north of Baghdad has suffered a wave of bombings, including six car bombs on one day alone. One targeted a main Kurdish political organization. Another bomb this week seriously wounded a Kurdish teacher. Some Kurds say that Sunni Arab groups with al-Qaida links are now operating here, but Turkomen and Arabs also have been hit by violence.

The dispute centers on whether this ancient city should become part of the semi-independent Kurdish zone in northeast Iraq or remain as it is, part of broader Iraq, governed by the Arab-led coalition government in Baghdad. The referendum, whose date has not been agreed upon, would settle that by asking residents which they preferred.

Unlike in Baghdad, in Kirkuk there are sharp lines between the warring sides, a legacy of a battle for dominance here that predates the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

On one side of the divided city are people like Abdul-Karim Wadi, a Shiite Arab, who got what amounted to thousands of dollars in cash and a free apartment to move to Kirkuk from Baghdad 18 years ago. He was part of Saddam Hussein's campaign to flood the city with Arabs and cleanse it of Kurds.

Now, Wadi says, Kirkuk is his home and he has no plans to leave. He says he had no idea about Saddam's intentions when he moved here.