By LARA JAKES, Associated Press – 2 minutes ago
IRBIL, (AP) — Time is running out for the Iraqi government to decide on a power-sharing agreement to end a political crisis roiling the country, the president of Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish region warned Wednesday.
Without an agreement, Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said, Iraq could face a political revolt and even the specter of Kurdish secession that would scuttle hopes for a unified, stable nation just months after the departure of U.S. troops.
Iraqi opposition parties and Kurds in general have run out of patience with feeling sidelined in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government, Barzani told The Associated Press in a 45-minute interview in his office outside the Iraqi Kurdish regional capital of Irbil.
"There is a very dangerous political crisis in the country," Barzani said, stopping short of predicting whether al-Maliki would soon be ousted from power.
Barzani called for a September deadline for resolving the political impasse to offer Iraqi Kurds an incentive not to break away from Baghdad. "It has to be before then. At least," Barzani said.
If no solution is found before local elections scheduled for September in Kurdistan, Kurds may be asked to vote on a referendum to decide, as Barzani put it, whether they want to "live under a dictatorial regime" controlled by Baghdad or in an independent state.
Al-Maliki's media adviser Ali al-Moussawi declined to comment when told about Barzani's remarks and a possible independence vote by Kurds.
The three-province Kurdish region in Iraq's north is politically autonomous, although it does receive a share of the nation's $100 billion annual budget. It was created as a haven for the country's ethnic Kurds in the 1970s after years of fighting with the central government. Kurds account for up to 20 percent of Iraq's population; it is unknown how many of them live in the northern region since there has been no census taken for years.
Neighboring Turkey and Iran have been concerned that an independent and prosperous Iraqi Kurdistan might promote separatism among their Kurdish minority populations. Iran's semiofficial Mehr news agency reported Wednesday that four troops from Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards were killed in clashes with Kurdish rebels in western Iran the previous day.
Tensions between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish region long have been strained, and Barzani has threatened previously to break off the region from Iraq.
But relations have sunk to a new low after a series of actions by Baghdad have curbed the regional autonomy that Kurds stridently defend. Most recently, the central government blacklisted ExxonMobil from bidding on new projects as punishment for plans to work in Kurdistan.
Barzani may also be bolder now that the U.S. troops have gone, and since talks last week in Ankara signaled a burgeoning partnership between the Kurdish region and neighboring Turkey.
Barzani said he has been trying to get bickering leaders of Iraq's political blocs back to the negotiating table — an effort that has malingered for months. "For the time being, we are in a consultation process," he said.
"But I would like to stress with you one fact: The current situation, the status quo, does not suffice as an option for us," he said. "This time, the timeline will not be open-ended as it has been in the past."
Barzani also said he "wholeheartedly" supports Sunni desires to create their own self-rule regions in Iraq — an action that the Shiite government has sought to avoid, and that Washington fears would eliminate years of U.S. efforts toward building long-term stability.
During the early years of the Iraq war, the U.S. worked hard to ensure that the Kurds remained part of the Iraqi state, encouraging all parties to give the Kurds a major role in the government. Kurdish approval of the Iraqi constitution in 2005 was hailed as a major victory for U.S. policy.
Barzani did not directly blame al-Maliki for the impasse but said it's clear that the Shiite prime minister and his State of Law political alliance has been "ruling the country by themselves."
If that continues, Barzani said, "it will not be accepted."
State of Law official Ali al-Alak said the prime minister's alliance remains open to negotiations but that Kurdish secession should not be an option.
"The problems can't be resolved by issuing threats, but through dialogue," said al-Alak, a member of parliament. "If one party tries to impose solutions on others, then this a dictatorship scenario. We are with unity of Iraq and we strongly reject dividing Iraq and its people."
Others feel it is al-Maliki who is dividing the Iraqi people.
After State of Law fell short of winning the most seats in 2010 parliamentary elections, al-Maliki kept his job only after corralling enough support from Kurdish lawmakers and the hardline followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Barzani's comments make clear that the Kurds no long want al-Maliki to stay in power. And Sadrist lawmakers are increasingly irritated with the government's long-standing dismissal of their concerns.
"The current political situation in Iraq is like a time bomb that could explode at any moment," said Sadrist lawmaker Bahaa al-Araji.
He said the political strain between al-Maliki and the Kurds could be the first domino to fall in a broken Iraq: "Baghdad has the same problems with other provinces," al-Araji said. "This will lead to dividing Iraq, and there will be no Iraq on the world map."
Associated Press Writers Yahya Barzanji in Irbil, and Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report.
The Associated Press
... we will hold a refereundum and proclaim it then it is up to those who want to built relations on mutual interests , as i can see your government has decided to look the other way when it happens.
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