Some 100,000 Arabs left Karkouk, al-Musil

An International report said that some 100,000 Arabs fled from northern Iraq where returning back Kurds demanding the return back of their houses which they said that an Arabization program implemented by the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein forced them to quit.

The report which was issued by the international project for internally displaced people, which takes Geneva as a headquarters under the auspices of the UN, warned that the unorganized return back of thousands of Kurds to al-Musil and Karkouk might flare up tension where the Arabs and the Turkmans protest against the increasing political influence of the Kurds.

The report said "the change in the political atmosphere in 2003 to replacement impact, as the Kurds coming back at the support of the Kurdish militias replace, the Arabs who were brought in by the toppled authorities." The report said that the Arabs left Karjouk and al-Musil as a direct result of the return back of 30,000 Kurds so far "of fears of revenge attacks."