DUBAI, June 3 (Reuters) - The prime minister of Iraq's Kurdish region said on Tuesday Kurds were willing to share power with Arabs in the city of Kirkuk -- a focus of rivalry between ethnic groups, largely because of its considerable oil wealth. Kurds, a minority in Iraq as a whole, see Kirkuk as their ancient capital and had led the push for a referendum to establish control. Arabs encouraged to move to Kirkuk under Saddam Hussein want it to stay under Baghdad's control. The dispute could threaten the relative stability in the largely Kurdish north, spared some of the ravages suffered by the rest of the country, but it also resonates beyond Iraqi borders. Turkey fears extension of Kurdish control to Kirkuk and surrounding oil fields would spawn a wealthy, and hostile, Kurdish state that could foment separatism in its southeast. Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said the Kurdish regional government that controls the north was pushing for a solution over the status of Kirkuk but that this did not necessarily have to come in the form of referendums proposed so far. The Kurdish parliament voted in December for a six-month delay in a proposed referendum, partly to give the United Nations time to come up with proposals for settling the issue. "In Kirkuk, as Kurds, we are ready for power-sharing," Barzani told Reuters in Dubai. "We are pushing for a solution, not especially a referendum. We have asked the UN to be technically involved because the situation is complicated," he said. A referendum had been due by the end of 2007 to decide the settlement of multi-ethnic Kirkuk's fate. There were fears a referendum could stoke ethnic conflict by delivering power to one side or the other, or lead to disruptive movements of population as groups manoeuvre for influence.The U.N. special representative to Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, said in April a peaceful settlement must be found through a political formula and not a hastily organised referendum that could trigger violence. (Reporting by John Irish, Writing by Lin Noueihed; editing by Ralph Boulton)
A doctor checks up on a patient in Baghdad's Ibn Rushud psychiatric hospital June 2, 2008. Peace of mind is hard to come by in Iraq, both for the few psychiatrists ...
