Turks fear Kurds will set up State

US SOLDIERS began securing oilfields and the airport in the key northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk yesterday as lawlessness and tensions between ethnic groups appeared to be on the rise, and Turkey voiced its concerns about a Kurdish nation on its borders.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in the city since Thursday, when Iraqi forces fled, have agreed to leave, but a senior Kurdish official said this would only happen when US troops could ensure stability a task that could take days.

"Peshmerga from outside the city will go out as soon as there are sufficient numbers of US military personnel," said Barham Saleh, prime minister of one of two main factions controlling the Kurd-majority enclave in northern Iraq. More and more American troops are coming in."