Iraqi Kurds Register in Kirkuk

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KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) - Thousands of Kurds displaced from this northern city by Saddam Hussein began formally registering Tuesday as residents of Kirkuk in a bid to make themselves the majority in the province and bolster their claims to this oil-rich region.

The move came as Iraqi officials are trying to draft the country's new constitution that is widely expected to turn Iraq into a federal state. Kurds would like to incorporate the Kirkuk area into their self-ruled region - a move opposed by Arabs, Turkomen and the Turkish government in Ankara...

..."We do not oppose the return of people displaced from Kirkuk no matter to what ethnic group they belong," said Hassan Toran, a Turkomen official. "But we have to make sure they are originally from Kirkuk and on the condition that this matter is not turned from a humanitarian matter into a political one."

An Arab member of the city council, Mohammed Khalil, said Arabs who came to Kirkuk "should not leave" because Kirkuk "is an Iraqi city where different ethnic groups live.""
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