Battle for Kirkuk central to successful outcome of war

ONE of the major battles in any war with Iraq will be fought over the strategically crucial northern city of Kirkuk.

The city is the centre of Iraq's oil industry and one of only two sites in the region with a major airfield, the other being Mosul in the north-west.

Also important to the threatened US-led military action is Kirkuk's location, just south of the northern no-fly zone and about 150 miles from Baghdad. Winning control of the city possibly with the help of Kurdish fighters is seen as the key to securing the rest of northern Iraq in a conflict with Saddam.

Nick Cook, aviation consultant with Jane's Defence Weekly, said the large airstrip at Kirkuk would provide a crucial forward air-base for US transport aircraft. It could also function to help support supply lines, and as a launch station for Harrier jet anti-tank sorties, he said.

"You're looking at an airfield that can be used for close air support operations in the form of Harrier and RAF tank-busting operations.

"And secondly, there's a strip which would be used as a logistics base for transport aircraft and delivering supplies," he said.

Mr Cook said the Harrier jet-style operations run out of Kirkuk air-base could also include providing close air support for special forces on the ground.

There have been suspicions that Saddam has used the air-base for storing some of his illegal weapons, including alleged chemical weapons components.

Kirkuk, which lies near the Zagros Mountains, is currently under Saddam's control, and produces an estimated one million barrels of oil each day.

The city's oil industry is linked via pipelines to ports on the Mediterranean coast and there is plenty of fertile farmland for growing olives, fruit and cereals nearby.

However, Kirkuk lies in an area which has seen brutal fighting between Saddam's forces and Kurdish rebels. Kurd separatists want to make Kirkuk their capital in a new, post-Saddam state but these plans are deeply opposed by neighbouring Turkey.

The issue of Kirkuk's future is likely to prove one of the trickiest to negotiate in any post-war settlement of Iraq.