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Iraq deploys special forces in Kirkuk amid Kurdish flag dispute
KIRKUK, Iraq, Jan 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Iraqi special forces deployed
Thursday in Kirkuk after the raising of the Kurdish flag over a political
party headquarters revived tensions more than a year after Baghdad seized the
disputed northern city.
Iraq’s counter-terrorism chief gave President Barham Saleh’s Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) until noon on Friday to lower the red, white, green
and yellow flag of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Under Iraq’s constitution, multi-ethnic Kirkuk province is controlled by
the central government in Baghdad.
Kirkuk is one of several regions that Kurdish peshmerga fighters took over
in 2014 as jihadists from the Islamic State group swept through much of
northern and western Iraq.
Angered by an independence referendum held in the three provinces of Iraqi
Kurdistan as well as in disputed border areas including Kirkuk, Baghdad
deployed federal forces to retake the oil-rich province in 2017.
The vote saw more than 92 percent of Kurds back secession, but the federal
government rejected the poll as “illegal,” imposed economic penalties and
seized the disputed Kirkuk oil fields, halting exports.
In December Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan announced a deal to resume oil
exports from Kirkuk.
Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, seen as a consensual figure who has
settled disputes between Kurdistan and Baghdad in the past, appealed to Saleh
after the flag was raised on Tuesday evening.
Abdel Mahdi spoke by telephone to the president, who was on a visit to
Qatar, the premier’s office said.
Abdel Mahdi complained that flying the flag above party headquarters in
Kirkuk is “a violation of the constitution”.
He suggested the matter be referred to the Supreme Court, which had ruled
the independence referendum was illegal.
BSS/AFP/RY/1833 hrs