Kurdish party rejects Baghdad-appointed Kirkuk governor

By Idris Okuducu

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq (AA) - A leading member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has criticized the recent appointment by Baghdad of a new Kirkuk governor, saying the party would soon appoint its own governor to the disputed oil-rich province.

“Kirkuk’s current governor operates as a proxy,” Aso Mamand, the PUK’s main officer for Kirkuk, said at a Wednesday news conference in Sulaymaniyah.

He added: “Only the PUK has the authority to appoint governors of Kirkuk and will do so shortly.”

On Tuesday, Baghdad appointed Rakan Saeed, who had previously served as Kirkuk’s deputy governor, as the new provincial governor.

A day earlier, Iraqi forces entered Kirkuk city following the withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga forces loyal to northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).

Iraqi forces swiftly assumed control of the city’s main government headquarters and raised the Iraqi flag.

“The Peshmerga withdrawal from Kirkuk was the best way to avoid harm," Mamand said, noting that Peshmerga fighters had vacated the city before the army advance without any fighting.

Asked about reports that Hashd al-Shaabi militia fighters had taken over the PUK’s offices in Kirkuk, Mamand said: “Iraqi security forces have told us that the Hashd al-Shaabi would soon withdraw [from Kirkuk].”

A largely Shia Muslim force, the Hashd al-Shaabi was incorporated into the Iraqi army last year. It has fought alongside Iraqi troops in several recent campaigns against Daesh.

Tension has steadily mounted between Baghdad and the KRG -- a coalition including the PUK -- since Sept. 25, when Iraqis in KRG-controlled areas, as well as disputed areas such as Kirkuk, voted on independence.

Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Kirkuk has been disputed between the central government in Baghdad and the Erbil-based KRG.

Peshmerga forces moved into Kirkuk province after Daesh overran large swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq in mid-2014.

* Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara