Oil-rich Kirkuk vote, upheaval delayed

KIRKUK, Iraq, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- The official Kurdish OK to delay a vote on the future of oil-rich Kirkuk has given Iraq more time to deal with a powder keg of an issue.

Kirkuk is claimed by the Kurdish majority in the northern part of Iraq but is outside the official area controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government.

This week Kurdish legislators approved a six-month delay to the vote.

The Kurdish leadership ensured a discussion on the future of the area, where an estimated 11 billion to 15 billion barrels of oil are located, as it helped craft the 2005 Constitution. It calls for a referendum to be held by Dec. 31.

That is logistically impossible, the Los Angeles Times reports. Saddam Hussein displaced many residents of the area, and the reversal of that, though ongoing, must be completed first. Then a census must be taken to decide eligible voters.

When, or if, it does take place, it will potentially be a violent time to be in Kirkuk. The Iraqi army was targeted by a bomb that killed one civilian and injured two soldiers and a child, and two passengers in a car were kidnapped by gunmen Friday. Such attacks, as well as sabotage of the northern pipeline, are believed to be related to opposition to the vote that could put Kirkuk in the KRG's hands.

Turkey, fearing its Kurdish population will be emboldened by such an event, has lobbied against it as well.