Kurdish question next challenge for Iraq

BOSTON, June 30 (UPI) -- Baghdad will be left with lasting issues over the Kurdish question that could threaten any gains when revelry marking a U.S. troop deadline ends, observers say.

Washington and Baghdad were exuberant as Iraq celebrated a national holiday Tuesday to mark the end of the U.S. combat presence in Iraqi city centers following more than six years of conflict.

But once celebrations are complete, new work begins as Baghdad tests its political savvy by tackling the so-called Kurdish question that threatens many of the gains made since the 2003 invasion, notes the Christian Science Monitor.

Political tensions between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the central government in Baghdad approached the brink of conflict in August due to simmering administrative arguments over the disputed territories in Diyala province.

But at the center of that dispute, the Monitor notes, is Kirkuk, which lies at the heart of territorial disputes and, perhaps more importantly, control over Iraq's vast oil reserves.

With Iraq set for national elections in January and Kurdish elections set for July, political maneuvering over the Kurdish question could erupt into violence without careful diplomacy.

The Monitor points to events in neighboring Iran, where clerical authorities impose their will on the rest of the country, as a sign of a potential future for Iraq as it deals with its next chapter in recovery.