Kurds prove ethnic co-existence is alive in new Iraq

THE contrast between Iraq’s Kurdish provinces and the insurgency-racked cities to the south is evident in the 100 or so labourers gathered at the main square of this Kurdish town, looking for work.

They are among many Iraqi Arabs who have come from unemployment-stricken Baghdad and other cities to earn €7.50 for eight hours of work in a relatively safe environment. That they are Arabs among historically hostile Kurds suggests that ethnic co-existence is not dead in the new Iraq.

What draws the labourers, some as young as 14, as well as legions of investors, is a Kurdish economy flourishing on investment and capital that has been driven out of the insurgency areas.