Kurdish forces seized two oilfields in north Iraq yesterday and took over operations from a state-run oil company, while Kurdish politicians formally suspended their participation in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government.
The moves escalated a feud between the Shi’ite-led central government and the autonomous Kurdish region driven by a Sunni insurgency which threatens to fragment Iraq on sectarian and ethnic lines three years after the withdrawal of US forces.
The Kurdish forces took over production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oilfields near Kirkuk yesterday, according to the oil ministry in Baghdad, sources at state-run Northern Oil Company, and a senior source in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The Oil Ministry called on the Kurds to withdraw immediately to avoid “dire consequences”.
Kurdish forces took control of nearby Kirkuk a month ago after Iraqi troops withdrew in the face of a lightning assault by Islamic State militants, who have seized large parts of north and west Iraq.
The Oil Ministry calls on Kurds to withdraw immediately to avoid dire consequences
The two oilfields have a combined production capacity of 450,000 barrels per day but have not been producing significant volumes since March when Baghdad’s Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline was sabotaged.
Efforts to reach agreement on a new government in Baghdad to confront the insurgents have been complicated by the tensions between Maliki and the Kurds.
The national Parliament elected in April met for the first time last week. The US, the UN and Iraq’s own Shi’ite clerics have urged lawmakers to form a new government to face the Sunni insurgency quickly.
Parliament’s first session ended without agreement over the nominations for the top three government posts.
The second was due to be held on Tuesday but was delayed until tomorrow.
Regional Kurdish President Massoud Barzani last week told his Parliament in Arbil to prepare a referendum on independence, infuriating Maliki.
The relationship hit a new low this week when the Prime Minister accused Kurds of allowing their capital to be used as a base for the Islamic State and others, including former members of Saddam Hussein’s now-banned Baath Party.
In protest against the accusation, the Kurdish political bloc announced they were suspending their participation in Baghdad government yesterday.
Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said the Kurds will continue to attend Parliament.
Zebari, who is a Kurd, said Iraq risked falling apart if a new inclusive government is not formed soon as “the country is now divided literally into three states - “Kurdish, a black state (Isil) and Baghdad.”