Layla Yousif Rahema

The forthcoming visit of Prime Minister to Kurdistan is hope for a reconciliation with Baghdad. But Kirkuk, which owns 25% of Iraqi oil, is in the sights of Arabs and Turkmen. Iran fears a Kurdish state power, the U.S. fear a conflagration that could delay their departure from Iraq in 2011.

UN and U.S. at work to ensure there is no new veto by the vice president. Sunnis unhappy because of the Kurdish victories. Even political alliances are in flux. Maybe the vote will be in February. Fears for an ethnic-religious division of the country.

Human Rights Watch raises the alarm, confirmed by AsiaNews sources. Plan includes setting up a ghetto in the Nineveh Plains for Christians and guarantee Kurds control over resource-rich Kirkuk. Humanitarian aid is given in exchange for support as dissidents get crushed.

Alcohol sales and other activities contrary to Islam are banned in these cities. Mgr Sako, bishop of Kirkuk, says Iraq’s constitution is ambiguous because it respects religious freedom whilst banning laws contrary to the principles of Islam.

Contracts with the Italian company Eni, in alliance with the United States and South Korea. The Nasiriyah oilfield to the Japanese. Problems with Chinese companies. But meanwhile the standoff between Kurdistan and Baghdad continues. The population receives crumbs or nothing.

Under pressure from Islamic fundamentalists trying to force them to convert, with the additional risks of the journalistic profession, in exile from one country to another: the Calvary of two Iraqi women from the fall of Saddam to the present.

The government of the semi-autonomous region signs two more "production sharing" agreements with Korean state oil company KNOC. These are the same kinds of agreements that continue to increase friction between Baghdad and Erbil, and one of the obstacles to awaited national oil legislation.

After the release of video showing the training of children for al-Qaeda, the problem of neglected children in Iraq is returning into focus. It is not only al-Qaeda, but the religious militias are also "enlisting" children. Economic need is only the latest motivation driving children to take up rifles. The culture of weapons and violence has deep roots in the country.

Fr Hani Abdel Ahad, abducted in Baghdad in June of last year and held for 12 days, tells AsiaNews about his captivity, the daily violence he experienced, the psychological threats and physical torture he endured. Money is not the only motive behind the abduction of priests. “I experienced first hand the deep hatred terrorists have for Christians and suffered on my body their plans to drive them out Iraq,” he said. Still convalescing for the hardships he had to endure, he is thankful to God for his faith, only “hope for a better future.”