Iraqi Kurds threaten parliament boycott

KIRKUK, Iraq, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A national election law for Iraq is stalled on the issue of voting procedures in Kirkuk, a contested area claimed by Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, authorities say.

Kurdish parliament members said they will boycott Thursday's session if the body is forced to vote on which voter-registration records are used in polls in the northern oil-rich region, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Records from 2004 are favored by Sunni Arabs and Turkmen because they don't reflect a large increase of Kurds after that year, the Journal said. Under Saddam Hussein, thousands of Kurds were expelled from Kirkuk but started to return after the 2003 U.S. invasion.

There also are records for 2005 and 2009, favored by the Kurds. The Kurdish bloc in parliament wants the issue to be negotiated rather than put to a straight vote, the Journal said.

"If they vote on this, we will not enter the hall and we will boycott the session," Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said.