May 26, 2003	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 23,1424

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KIRKUK, May 25: The election of a local council in the oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk was completed on Sunday when the US commander of the region swore in six members whose selection had been contested by Arabs on grounds that they were mostly Kurds.

“After consultations, I did not find any procedural error. I therefore call on the six delegates to be sworn in,” US 4th Infantry Division Maj-Gen Raymond Odierno, commander of coalition forces in northeast Iraq, told delegates who had chosen the council on Saturday.

Only 24 of the council’s 30 members were sworn in on Saturday after Arab delegates objected to the selection of four Kurds out of the remaining six members.—AFP