Arab and Kurdish parties in Iraq's oil city of Kirkuk have clinched a deal under which Arabs will end their boycott of the provincial council in return for a more equal sharing of power, an official said on Monday.
The "in principle" agreement was reached on Sunday, according to the chief of the Kirkuk provincial council, Razgar Ali, a leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) headed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. Ethnic Turkmen, however, have refused to join the agreement and will continue boycotting the 41-member council.
Kirkuk has been gripped by ethnic tension since the US-led invasion of 2003, with Kurds demanding that the city be incorporated into the autonomous Kurdish region and Arab and ethnic Turkmen opposing this, saying they fear non-Kurdish communities will be marginalised. A referendum to determine the future of the city, was to have been held before the end of the year but officials acknowledge there is too little time left.
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