Something else forgotten but not gone

Kirkuk remains a potential flashpoint for ethnic conflict in Iraq.

The Iraqi Press Monitor for October 27 quotes this from Al-Mutamar, the daily paper of the Iraqi National Congress:

Arabs and Turkomen in Kirkuk are taking steps to stage a large demonstration in reply to the repeated demonstrations staged by the Kurds who have called for the removal of Arabs from the city. A source in Kirkuk's Arabic Gathering said the Kurdish demonstrations, which had not been spontaneous but staged and partisan, included a large number of demonstrators from outside of the province. Demonstrators' demands focused on removing the Arabs, which is an insult to the government, the source said.

The Arabs are there because of a resettlement policy of Saddam Hussein, who wanted to dilute the demographic strength of the heavy Kurdish majority in the region. That policy included taking property from Kurds and giving it to Arabs, some of who were pretty much told to move to the region. Now, having made the emotional commitment to homes which in some cases they've occupied for decades and often in which they've grown up, they - understandably - are reluctant to leave.

Meanwhile, the Kurds, who see it as a legacy of exploitation and expropriation by the old regime, want things to be returned to where they were before the relocation policy was enforced.

No, all is not going well.