Anger at Kirkuk Arab Resettlement Plan

Arabs and Turkmen in Kirkuk have dismissed a decision by local authorities to return Arabs there to central and southern parts of Iraq. Hundreds of Shia and Sunni Arabs and Turkmen demonstrated against the move, carrying slogans rejecting what they see as efforts to divide the country. Head of the Sadr office in Kirkuk Raad al-Sarkhi said that his movement was opposed to the removal of Shia Arabs who had lived there for three decades. He added that the Sadrists were against any moves to destroy national unity. Meanwhile, the head of the supreme commission for refugees said that the displacement of four million Iraqis, forced to leave their home because of the escalation in sectarian violence, constituted a real humanitarian disaster.