ARBIL, May 17: At least three people were killed and several injured in shootouts between Arabs and Kurds in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk that began on Friday night, witnesses said.

Gunfights broke out following disputes over the ownership of houses and land, the witnesses said.

The two sides also fought with knives, said one witness, who added he had seen the bodies of three Kurds killed in the Al-Shuhada neighborhood of the city.

A KDP delegation headed to Kirkuk to try to restore calm in the key oil-rich city.

Kurds accused the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein of pursuing an active policy of settling Arabs from central and southern Iraq in and around Kirkuk in order to change its demographic character.—AFP