ARBIL, Iraq, Dec. 11 (Reuters)-Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said Saturday that his autonomous region shall have the right to self-determination and contested city of Kirkuk, above some of Iraq's largest oil reserves.
Kirkuk destiny is one of the most important issues in contention between the Kurdish region and the Central Government in Baghdad, are locked in disputes over land and some of the world's richest oil fields.
Barzani told a Conference of his Kurdish Democratic Party in Arbil right to Kirkuk to Kurdistan was non-negotiable.
-Kurdish identity of Kirkuk is not a matter of bargaining, "he says.
At the same event said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki he would keep the constitutional deadline to form the new Iraqi Government. He was charged on November 25, with putting together a cupboard and had 30 days to deliver.
Iraq has been without a new Government for more than nine months after the March elections failed to produce a clear winner.
Sunni and Shi'ite, Kurdish factions squabbled over position and power for months before it finally reaches a compromise last month, which would cover all the major political blocs in the next Government.
KIRKUKS HOME?
Barzani's region and the Iraqi central Government submits in the year of Arbil had the right to sign oil development contracts with foreign oil companies. Baghdad says Iraqi oil assets are under its jurisdiction and calls Kurdish region contract unlawful.
The disagreement is closed oil exports from the region last year and they have yet to start, even if both sides oil ministers have said recently that exports should begin early next year.
Central to the territorial disputes is the fate of Kirkuk, American officials say can sit at 4% of world reserves. The city's population is a mixture of Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and others.
Iraq deferred recently a national inventory that could determine what percentage of the population is Kurdish Kirkuks, an important step towards resolving the city should be part of Kurdistan.
Tensions surrounding census has escalated recently. Some Arab families have said they are ordered to leave the city before the number of population.
Barzani tried to allay fears about Kirkuks future.
"If there were concerns that the Kurds would exclude unilaterally on Kirkuk connects to Kurdistan, I would like to reassure everyone that we want to make an example of coexistence of Kirkuk," he says.
Even former party congresses were discussed and "confirmed the right to self-determination" Kurdistan, Barzani said this year it is a fundamental question on the agenda.
Malikis promise to name his new Government through constitutional deadline can be an indication of the difficulty to reach an agreement with rival political blocs on specific candidates for CABINET posts. He had earlier said he would name a cabinet from mid-December.
"The Government sees the light of this constitutional period and before the time limit of 30 days," said Maliki THE FOUNDERS OF THE Congress.
"I urge all blocks to accelerate submit their candidates and do not stay long on minor issues," he says.
(Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim and Muhanad Mohammed; writing by Jim Loney)
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