KIRKUK, May 24: Only 24 of the 30 members of a local council elected in the oil-rich Iraqi province of Kirkuk on Saturday were sworn in after Arab delegates contested the selection of “independent” representatives on grounds they were mostly Kurds.

The row prompted Major General Raymond Odierno, commander of coalition forces in northeastern Iraq and of the US Fourth Infantry Division, to put off a decision on the six contested representatives until Sunday.

The 24 others — six Kurds, six Arabs, six Turkmens and six Assyrians — elected by 300 delegates gathered in the town hall of the multi-ethnic northern city were sworn in by Odierno.

The six whose election was disputed are four Kurds, including the only female would-be council member, one Turkman and one Assyrian.

“It is unfair that most of the independents should be Kurds,” Arab delegate Abderrahman al-Assi protested.

The six were chosen by Odierno from a list of around double that number who had been elected by 144 independent delegates to the gathering.

The rest of the 300 delegates were divided into 39-strong groups of Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens and Assyrians.

“We had expected him (Odierno) to choose two Kurds, two Arabs and two Turkmens,” said Assi, who was backed by other Arab delegates at the conference while Kurdish delegates insisted the selection process had gone as it should have.—AFP