IRBIL, Iraq — The prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdish region accused the Arab-dominated national government Saturday of trying to use troops to seize control of the disputed city of Kirkuk, escalating tensions between Iraqi Kurds and the Arab leadership in Baghdad.
U.S. officials consider the growing Arab-Kurdish rift as one of the major threats to Iraq’s stability as President Barack Obama’s administration maps plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.
Kirkuk is not part of the Kurdish self-governing region and is under the political control of the central government. The Kurds have long demanded that Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, be incorporated into their self-governing region.
Senior Kurdish official Jabbar Yawar said the Kurds appealed to the U.S. military to stop the movements of the largely Arab troop contingent.
Although the troop movements were halted, Kurdish officials remain suspicious about the intentions of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
