U.S. vows to remove Kurds from Kirkuk

U.S. vows to remove Kurds from Kirkuk

Reuters, Ankara

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Thursday U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell had reassured Ankara that U.S.
forces would remove Kurd fighters from Kirkuk, a key oil-rich
city in northern Iraq.

Hundreds of Kurdish peshmerga forces poured into Kirkuk on
Thursday, rattling the Ankara government, which sees a Kurdish
takeover of the city as a first step to an independent state that
could spark separatism among Turkey's own Kurds.

"Powell gave his word new U.S. forces will be sent to Kirkuk
in a few hours to remove the peshmerga who have gone in there,"
Gul told reporters after speaking by to Powell by telephone.

"In a couple of hours they will send their parachute units to
Kirkuk and will not allow any defacto situation or fait accompli.
The assurances they gave are still valid, they repeated that,"
Gul said.

Iraqi Kurds say Kirkuk is historically theirs and that Kurds
have been expelled from the city over the years by the Iraqi
government as part of a "Arabisation" campaign. Many Kurds say
they long to return to homes there.

After lengthy talks with U.S. officials NATO ally Turkey has
backed off threats to send troops into northern Iraq to stop
Kurds from taking Kirkuk or Iraq's third largest city, Mosul,
also home to large oil fields.

But tens of thousands of Turkish troops remain massed along
the border and Turkey has reserved the right to go in to thwart
any Kurdish moves toward statehood.

The Kurds and the United States say such an independence bid
is out of the question but Turkey, still smarting from more than
a decade of conflict with its own separatist Kurdish rebels, has
deep doubts.

Washington's offer of US$1 billion in grants to Turkey,
extendable into $8.5 billion in credits guarantees, could be
jeopardized if Turkey sends its troops in.

The Kurds have vowed to oppose any Turkish incursion and
Washington wants to prevent a "war within a war" breaking out as
it senses the Iraqi government is toppling.

Gul said on Thursday Turkish military observers would be in
Kirkuk soon to track U.S. promises not to allow the northern
Iraqi oil hub to be controlled by Kurdish forces.

Gul told NTV television that the United States had assured him
the Kurds would not be allowed to stay in control.

"The 173rd U.S. parachute unit will be in Kirkuk within a few
hours. Turkish armed forces observers will enter too," Gul said
during the live interview.