SULAIMANIYAH, Jan 25: Iraq's Kurds are not actively seeking independence but will be unable to remain Iraqis if the Baghdad government fails to observe their key demands, a top Kurdish official has warned.

"There are three red lines for us... If they are crossed, we will no longer be Iraqis," Noshirwan Mustafa, an aide of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani, said in an interview.

"If the Arabs do not accept the principle of federalism, we will no longer be Iraqis. If they insist on a theocratic regime, we will no longer be Iraqis. And Kurdish terrorists must be returned to Kurdistan," he said.

His comments, days ahead of elections, come amid rising tensions in Iraq's north, particularly in the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk, which lies outside the autonomous region of Kurdistan but is coveted by Arabs and Kurds alike for its oil reserves.

The region of Kurdistan, controlled by the PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), is to elect an autonomous parliament as well as vote for Iraq's national assembly.

The two parties have studiously avoided making any mention of independence in the run-up to elections in the hope of preserving the autonomy won in 1991 after years of bloody conflict with Saddam Hussein's government.

"We think that the time for micro-states has passed. What is profitable for the Kurds is to continue to be part of Iraq," said Mr Mustafa. However like other Kurdish leaders, Mr Mustafa is nervous that Iraq's post-election government, expected to be dominated by Shias, could chisel away at the rights given to the Kurds in Iraq's provisional constitution of March 2004.

"If this is the case it is possible that we will conclude that the constitution is to be rejected." And such threats are not empty rhetoric. The provisional constitution stipulates that Iraq's new basic law must be put to a referendum, which could declare it invalid if two-thirds of the electorate vote against it in three of Iraq's 18 provinces.

This gives Kurdistan considerable clout as it has three provinces within its borders and the result would be easy to predict if Kurdish leaders decided to campaign for a 'no'.

The Shias have made clear their displeasure at this effective right of veto, but Mr Mustafa argued that the Kurds share this power with Iraq's Sunnis given their population spread in three Iraqi provinces. "The new Iraqi constitution is not a question of majority or minority. We want it to be the fruit of a consensus." -AFP