Kurdish Parliament speaker slams ex-UN official over Article 140

ARBIL / Aswt al-Iraq: The speaker of the Kurdish Parliament, Kamal Karkouki, has criticized the former UN secretary general’s representative for Iraq, Staffan di Mistura, for “wasting a lot of time” in implementing Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution pertaining to disputed areas. This came during his reception of a UN delegation, led by Ad Melkert, the new envoy to Iraq, according to a statement released by the Kurdish Parliament and received by Iraqi News. “With all due respect, di Mistura wasted much time in vain,” Karkouki said, in reference to the former UN envoy’s attempts to provide solutions to the problems of contested areas. Karkouki urged the United Nations to play its technical role and help the parties involved in the dispute find suitable solutions in accordance with the constitution. Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution is related to the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk city and other disputed areas. Kurds seek to include the city in the autonomous Iraq’s Kurdistan region, while Sunni Muslims, Turkmen and Shiites oppose the incorporation. The article currently stipulates that all Arabs in Kirkuk be returned to their original locations in southern and central Iraqi areas, and formerly displaced residents returned to Kirkuk, 250 km northeast of Baghdad. The article also calls for conducting a census to be followed by a referendum to let the inhabitants decide whether they would like Kirkuk to be annexed to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region or having it as an independent province. These stages were supposed to end on December 31, 2007, a deadline that was later extended to six months to end in July 2008. SS (S) 1