Iraq's Barzani: Kurds' rule in disputed areas to continue

The Iraqi Kurdish leader said Friday the Kurds do not need the Iraqi constitution to resolve the problem over disputed areas adjacent to the country's northern region, which is now in the hands of the Kurdish security forces.
Masoud Barzani, leader of Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, told reporters at a joint news conference with the British Foreign Secretary William Hague in the Kurdish capital city Arbil that the Peshmerga (Kurdish security forces) have now controlled the disputed city of Kirkuk, the last part of the disputed area described in the constitution.
The disputed areas are mainly ethnically mixed with the Kurds, Arabs and Turkmans and other minorities. The Kurds demanded to expand their autonomous region in northern Iraq to include the oil- rich province of Kirkuk and other areas in the Iraqi provinces of Nineveh, Salahudin and Diyala.
According to the Iraqi constitution, a referendum in the disputed areas bordering Kurdistan region should be held so that people can choose whether to be ruled by the central government or the Kurds.
Barzani said the Iraqi security forces were stationed previously in the areas with the Kurdish forces, but withdrew after Mosul was taken by Sunni militants, adding that the Kurdish soldiers have no choice but to step in to protect the people from the terrorists.
"The Kurds have been waiting for ten years to fulfill the article 140 but it was no use, now the article 140 is achieved and it is over, and we won't talk about it anymore," Barzani added.
The British top diplomat arrived in Arbil a few days after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Baghdad and Erbil. Both officials urged unity among Iraqi leaders, and a speedy formation of an inclusive government in the country.
Hague arrived in Baghdad in a surprise visit on Thursday to hold talks with top Iraqi leaders, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, to discuss bilateral ties, as well as the political and security development in Iraq.
His visit came amid a worsening security conditions that began two weeks ago when armed Sunni insurgents, spearheaded by an al- Qaida splinter group Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, launched a surprise offensive that led to the debacle of Iraqi security forces and loss of a large part of the country's northern and western territories.