Kirkuk Tribal Chief Seeks Dialogue with Korean Government
internetnews@chosun.com

KIRKUK, Iraq -- Sheikh Ghassan Al-Asi, the 45 year old head of the Obeid tribe, the largest Arab tribe in the Kirkuk region, said he is prepared to meet with anyone from the Korean government and discuss plans to work together. Korea is scheduled to deploy troops to the Kirkuk area. Al-Asi leads the Obeid tribe, the largest tribe in the area around Hawija, a known resistance stronghold. The total number of Arabs over whom he wields influence is known to total about 200,000.

Al-Asi said, "The situation in Kirkuk is complicated because of tribal issues, but because the U.S. military doesn't listen to our requests and only listens to those of the Kurds, the problems are growing bigger. We hope Korea doesn't make the same mistake."

He said that he has yet to sit down with a Korean government official, nor has he been contacted by the Koreans. He expressed concern that Koreans may not be able to understand the region properly, and misunderstandings may already be occuring.

He also said that the Arab representatives that met the Korean representative team that was sent to Kirkuk weren't representative at all, since they were selected by the American military. "The chief of the largest Arab tribe in Kirkuk is me," he said.

Last April, after the Americans had occupied Kirkuk, Al-Asi headed the Kirkuk provincial council, but resigned after only a month. American military officials, including Colonel William Mayville of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, have visited him more than 10 times to plead for his cooperation.

Mayville is known to have worked actively to earn his cooperation, sending envoys to Al-Asi asking him to return to Kirkuk's city council.