Iraq’s Kurdish leadership rejected on Sunday the Iraqi government demand that it cancels the outcome of an independence referendum as a precondition for talks to resolve the dispute.
Kurdish leaders who met to discuss the crisis in the Kurdish town of Dokan renewed their offer to “resolve peacefully” the crisis with Baghdad, Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani’s aide, Hemin Hawrami, said on Twitter.
The meeting was attended by Barzani, Iraqi President Fuad Masum, and Hero Talabani, the wife of Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish leader who died earlier this month.
They rejected what they described as “military threats” from Iraqi forces against Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and pledged to defend Kurdish-held territory in case of an attack.
Armed standoff
Thousands of Iraqi troops are locked in an armed standoff with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, amid spiraling tensions following last month’s vote by the Iraqi Kurds for independence.
The crisis is raising fears of fresh chaos in Iraq just as the country’s forces are on the verge of routing Daesh from the last territory it controls in the country.
Kurdish forces, who were key allies in the US-backed offensive against Daesh, are refusing to surrender positions they took during the fightback against the terrorists over the past three years.
Iraq’s central authorities had demanded the Kurds withdraw from disputed areas overnight but the deadline was extended by a day following talks.
Iraqi and Peshmerga forces could be seen early on Sunday still facing off in positions on the outskirts of Kirkuk, though there were no signs of troop movements.
As well as heavily armed federal troops, members of the Hashed Al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Forces, which are dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias, have massed around Kirkuk.
Armed Kurdish civilians were seen gathering in Kirkuk overnight and Kirkuk Gov. Najm Eddine Karim, a Kurd sacked by Baghdad but who refuses to quit his post, warned: “Residents will help the Peshmerga... we will not allow any force to enter our city.”
Kirkuk, long claimed by the Kurds as part of their historic territory, has emerged as the main flashpoint in the dispute. Polling during the Sept. 25 referendum was held not only in the three provinces of the autonomous Kurdish region but also in adjacent Kurdish-held areas, including Kirkuk, that are claimed by both Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan.
The referendum, which was non-binding and saw voters overwhelmingly back independence, was declared illegal by Baghdad and held despite international opposition.
Control of oil fields
The Kurds control the city of Kirkuk and three major oil fields in the province.
The three fields produce some 250,000 barrels per day (bpd), accounting for 40 percent of Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil exports. They would provide crucial revenue to Baghdad, which has been left cash-strapped from the global fall in oil prices and three years of battle against Daesh.
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters rejected a warning from an Iraqi paramilitary force to withdraw from a strategic junction south of Kirkuk, which controls the access to some of the region’s main oil fields, a Kurdish security official told Reuters on Sunday.
Soleiman in Kurdistan
Meanwhile, Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani arrived in Iraq’s Kurdistan region for talks about the escalating crisis between the Kurdish authorities and the Iraqi government following last month’s Kurdish independence referendum.
Soleimani is the commander of foreign operations for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. He arrived in the Kurdish region Saturday, a Kurdish official said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said this week that he was “not going... to make war on our Kurdish citizens” but has also rejected any negotiations until the independence vote is annulled.
Washington has military advisers deployed with both sides in the standoff and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday the US was working to reduce tensions.
“We are trying to tone everything down and to figure out how we go forward without losing sight of the enemy,” Mattis told reporters.
“Everybody stay focused on defeating ISIS. We can’t turn on each other right now,” he said, using an alternative acronym for Daesh.
After ousting the terrorists from their last urban areas including Mosul and Hawija in recent months, Iraqi forces are battling to push Daesh from its last positions along the border with Syria.
Tensions have also risen between the Kurds and Ankara and Tehran since the independence vote, which both countries fear will stoke the separatist ambitions of their own sizeable Kurdish minorities.

Source:Arabnews